


Flightless Slave

by ZephyrVolashki



Series: Flightless Slave [1]
Category: Slavery - Fandom
Genre: Alpha - Freeform, Choking, Collar, Domination, Human Experimentation, Human Trafficking, M/M, Manipulation, Military, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sex Slave, Slavery, Submission, Torture, Whipping, master - Freeform, omega - Freeform, prisoner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-04
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2020-07-31 07:21:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 21
Words: 69,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20111299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZephyrVolashki/pseuds/ZephyrVolashki
Summary: Eros is trapped with his tormentors hundreds of miles away from civilization where he is forced to endure horrors every day. He no longer hopes for escape, but for necessities which have become luxuries, such as water, food, and a chance to stretch his legs to walk or run, instead of spreading them for those who have control over him.





	1. Chapter One

“Come here slut.”  
Eros turned to the man and crawled towards him without resistance. When he reached the sitting man, his hair was yanked forward roughly and pain shot through his head as the man pushed Eros’ face into his crotch.   
Eros used his teeth to unzip the man’s pants and pulled down his underwear to reveal his already half-hard length. He wasn’t given a chance to take another breath as the man thrust himself roughly down Eros’ throat. He held himself there and watched as Eros squirmed for a few seconds before pulling himself out just enough to adjust his grip on Eros’ hair before continuing at a fast pace.  
The man had dusty brown hair buzzed close to his face, sharp amber eyes, and thin lips. His face was lightly tanned, but had a gaunt look to it that didn’t match his well-sized muscles.  
Eros closed his eyes while he was facefucked brutally. He had probably sucked cock over a thousand times in the last five years he had been held on this island. Each time he was forced to do it, it became more normal to him and he got better at it. After all, it was easy now, and one of the less painful acts he performed.  
All his tormentors liked it when he told them he loved it as they raped his ass or beat him. He always followed orders and told himself it could be worse, playing the part he needed to survive.  
“Ah fuck yeah” The man moaned and pulled himself out of Eros’ mouth, jerking himself off desperately for a few seconds before cumming on Eros’ face with a grunt.  
Eros felt the man’s seed drip from his cheek down to his chin and looked up at the man questioningly for what he wanted next.   
“There you go, I was even nice enough to keep your dinner out of your eyes while you make ours.” The man said with a smirk, then spat at Eros who didn’t protest from the spit that joined the cum on his face.  
“Bitch, hurry up sucking off Dallas and make some chow.” Regan barked, poking his head out of the shack as Dallas stood up, and put himself back in his pants.  
“Of course Sir, my apologies.” Eros said and crawled away from Dallas, inside the shack and received a hard kick to his ass from Regan who then walked outside, grumbling about being the only one who took the threat of hunger seriously.  
Eros stood to prepare food for the eleven men stationed near this shack while Dallas’ cum slowly dried, then hardened on his face. There were very specific times he was allowed to walk, and serving during mealtimes was one of them, unless specified by someone looking to have some entertainment.   
The wooden shack was messy inside, random tools and parts on the ground or dusty shelves which lined the walls on the side with the entryway which led to the deck where Eros had come from. In the far right corner was a tiny kitchen where Eros worked to make food three or more times a day.   
There was a second door opposite from the entryway to the deck which led outside.   
Eros was not allowed near it.   
A third door was located on the wall to the right of the kitchen space which led to another room Eros was only allowed in when he was to perform tasks that weren’t sexual.  
He finished up dinner, a simple chicken broth with bread from yesterday with bits of cheese melted on top, and served it onto several dishes he placed on a large platter while the other men arrived.   
He loved cooking, it felt almost normal, he could sometimes convince himself he was back home preparing a meal for his closest friends. He was grateful for the time he could stand and walk, he always made sure he never took advantage of it and always obeyed to show how he appreciated this small mercy.  
As Eros prepared a second platter, the last of the eleven men entered.   
Nathan had long black hair, held back with a brown leather cord from a face which would be handsome if it wasn’t so cruel. He had dark large brows which seemed to always be narrowed, cold gray eyes, and stubble lined the sides of his sharp jawline. He was well endowed in muscles which pushed against the uniform he and all the men wore. Olive green padded pants, a darker green padded long sleeve jacket zipped over a plain black t-shirt, finished off with black steel toed combat boots.   
The only difference in his uniform was the small black emblem sewed into the left side of his shoulder: a simple circle with a vertical slash through the middle, likely signifying his role which was unknown to Eros. All he knew was that Nathan was in charge of the ten other men who had latched onto his sadistic fantasies when Eros was captured. He had been the first one to rape Eros and always dealt out the harshest punishments without mercy.   
Every night Eros had to perform some kind of entertainment, and when Nathan was the one who had something planned, Eros was left with countless bruises and scars, deeper and more painful than anything the other men caused.  
Eros quickly whipped around, pretending to be engrossed in organizing the spare food parts which weren’t used in the dinner. He sucked in his breath and listened as Nathan’s heavy steps crossed the floor and exited onto the deck.   
The most dangerous quality of Nathan was that he was unpredictable when it came to what he wanted from Eros. Some days he would receive lashings for making the most brief eye-contact with Nathan. Other times he was immediately flipped onto his back and fucked hard while ordered to not look away. After various punishments, Eros learned it was best to play dumb and pretend to be busy on other tasks, although that didn’t always work.  
Eros took a deep breath and carefully lifted up one of the trays, walking slowly outside to pass out dinner. He handed each man their meal with slightly shaking hands and took each slap or pinch to his ass with ease. Once the first tray was empty he began walking back inside to grab the second one when Regan shoved his foot out underneath Eros, who was unprepared and fell to the deck with little grace.  
“Our little whore is trying to get attention” Tarence called out while the others chuckled. “You just can’t get enough cock can you?”  
Eros pushed his pain to the back of his mind as he turned around. “Please Sir, let me serve you.” He said in a honeyed voice while cursing Regan in the back of his mind. Regan always punished Eros if he didn’t do exactly as he was supposed to. It wasn’t his fault he was a few minutes late on starting dinner, he couldn’t help that Dallas ordered him away from the task. But Regan didn’t care, neither would Tarence.  
Tarence pushed his long dirty blonde bangs from his pale blue eyes to to his hair which was short on the sides and longer on the top. He gave Eros a smirk while palming himself through his pants. “I’ll give you something to eat after you get everyone their food.”  
“Thank you Sir.” Eros said, inclining his head slightly then crawling back inside the shack. He stood up and grabbed the second tray. Once he had passed out the rest of the food he returned to Tarence who was still eating.  
Without prompting he lowered himself to his knees and pulled Tarence out through his pants. He licked his length but focused on his balls, knowing it would make Tarence cum faster once he decided to turn his attention to Eros’ ass, which always happened.  
Just as Eros predicted, once Tarence had finished his food, he placed his bowl on the ground and commanded Eros to turn around. He roughly shoved three fingers in Eros with no warning and did a sloppy job of preparing him. After a minute or so, he grabbed Eros’ hips and shoved him down on his length in one movement.  
Eros wanted to groan as the familiar fiery pain shot up his spine and caused him to tense, but instead he released a loud moan and forced himself to relax his muscles. Tarence got impatient waiting for Eros to adjust all too soon began to thrust roughly up into him. Eros met each thrust with his own after half a minute or so and began to grind himself down on Tarence. He gyrated his hips in a way where Terence's balls would be stimulated and released moan after moan, in part trying to convince himself that he was not in any pain.  
When Tarence came, he made Eros stick his fingers up his ass and eat the cum. After he was sure it was all out, Dallas ordered him to clean his face off as well. Eros used his fingers to pull the cum, which had turned into a crust, off his face and eat it, he licked each finger, sucked on it, and released it with a pop.  
When everyone had finished eating, they gathered around Eros who was fucked twice more. Regan had a go after the first two, he took Eros with his back digging into the deck, legs stretched out to the sides while he was choked. When he was finished, Eros was whipped with ten lashes. Each one just adding to the pain in his back and making him wish for the almost peaceful quiet which he only got when there were few men on deck.  
An hour after dark, Eros took the dishes and cleaned them off. Despite there being enough leftovers total from each bowl for a decent meal for himself, he was ordered to throw them out. Part of him wanted to sneak some but he knew that somehow his captors would know. Nathan had broken his jaw last time he had taken food and had fucked his mouth after while holding his nose shut until he passed out.  
Eros subconsciously rubbed his jaw, thinking of the pain which he could have sworn was still there and then crawled back outside. The night was his favorite time, at least when the nightly entertainment had ended. This was the time when he could admire the landscape. The wooden deck was completely surrounded by a lake, the shack itself was connected to land only through a long, narrow bridge. Outside the lake were thousands of different species of trees, plants, flowers, and sometimes Eros even saw animals. However most had been killed off the small island by the men’s activities, and the water was dirty, sewage and trash flowing through it.  
Eros’ focus was not on the trees or water, rather he tilted his head up to watch the stars. He did not know the stories behind them like the ones told to him by his step father when he was growing up, but he would create new names and stories for the constellations in his mind, new stories to take him away from this island. They comforted him and distracted him from his constant pain.  
He was happy he got to sleep underneath the stars. After three years he was allowed to sleep outside of the large cage which was on the corner of the deck farthest from the door, but his hands and feet were shackled together and tied to the deck posts. Another year and a half he was allowed to sleep outside without any shackles.  
There wasn’t any point in trying to escape. The nearest civilization was over five hundred miles away and the island was not large enough to hide from the men on. Even if he somehow managed to escape, he would be found and tortured severely. Rather than attempt to escape and lose his privileges, Eros fell asleep under the stars as he wished for simple things like sunshine, water, and food.


	2. Chapter Two

Eros awoke abruptly the next day, the left side of his face stinging from a rough kick.  
“Get up and make breakfast.” Regan ordered him, pulling him up by his hair.  
Eros gasped quietly from the pain which shot up his spine from the harsh movement and gritted his teeth before forcing himself to relax. “Of course Sir, right away.” He replied, hoping for Regan to release him.  
Eros’ wish was ignored as Regan gave his hair another sharp tug to off balance him and he pulled him quickly into the shack, throwing him on the floor by one of the counters. Thankfully he didn’t hurt Eros anymore, and walked outside, probably to wake up Dallas who had fallen asleep during his watch.  
Eros placed his hands on the floor behind him and pushed himself up carefully. Usually the pain in his spine was just a dull ache which he could push into the back of his mind, but being woken up so abruptly had startled him, and his muscles had tensed up, trying to protect him.   
The expectation was for Eros to wake up at dawn and prepare breakfast without being asked. However, with Regan being the temporary guard, his sour mood, likely from seeing Dallas asleep, had thrown off the schedule.  
The schedule was simple, and when it wasn’t followed, it gave Eros anxiety because it was the only thing he felt he could depend on. After waking up at dawn and making breakfast, Eros would serve the men their food, and then serve them his body. Few usually took the latter, seeing as it was early in the morning.  
After breakfast, Eros would relax on the deck, he would look for animals in the trees and wish he could run through the sand and forests with them. If he was tired or in serious pain, he would lie down and look at the clouds, enjoying the sunshine. His skin was tan, and his long blonde hair was bleached from being out in the sun, thankfully, as he had grown up on another island himself, getting sunburned wasn’t a worry for him.  
Eros would prepare lunch an hour before the sun was at its highest. The men would come back and eat, play around with Eros, and then leave him once again to relax.  
Dinnertime was the worst. Eros would prepare a meal, serve it, serve himself, and then the nightly entertainment would commence. Someone would decide what they wanted from Eros, and everyone would gather around, mocking him as he was pummeled, fucked into a bucket of water, was forced to take two men at once, or sometimes they would blindfold him and play more sadistic games to watch him struggle.  
Everyone was much more horny around this time, and Eros had never gone a night without sucking a cock or being fucked by one.  
It was the night that put him in agony and gave him new scars. He never knew what was going to be expected of him the next night and he always wished for the men to be over with it quickly so he could stargaze alone and let his body heal.  
There were many other buildings on the island, none that Eros could see from the deck or shack, but he had seen them before he was first captured. He assumed it was where these horrible men did their work and where they slept.   
Two guards stayed by the shack with Eros each night. One would be awake on the deck, the other slept in the second room in the shack in order to make sure Eros didn’t attempt to mess with the machinery in it, which he hadn’t done in years. The men would take the watch in shifts, splitting the night in half. The men switched with two new ones every two days, so after breakfast, Eros would be left with two different men besides Dallas and Regan.  
He hated the pairing of those two. Dallas never took much seriously, and when he was slacking and doing stuff like falling asleep, it put Regan in a foul mood, who then took out his anger on Eros, like he had the night before when Dallas had made Eros late to start dinner.  
Eros was sure to make breakfast fast enough to try to put Regan in a better mood. He moved gingerly, hoping that no one would want anything from him when they were done eating. He even dared to hope that the next two guards would allow him to eat the leftovers. Regan would always look for the smallest infraction of his behavior as an excuse for him to not deserve any food, and Eros hadn’t eaten since dinner two days ago. Unless you considered the cum from several men as food, then he always got to eat plenty.  
Just thinking about it made his stomach growl and he cringed, trying to force his stomach to be silent despite the constant gnawing pain. His throat burned as well from thirst. Although the deck was surrounded by water, it had waste flowing through it and Eros never risked drinking from it.  
Unless ordered to.  
Eros finished up cooking eggs and pancakes and served them to all the men that had arrived. He crawled around the deck, waiting obediently for anyone to call him over and was grateful when no one did. After everyone had finished eating, all but the new guards left.  
It was Tarence and Ian. Ian was shorter than the other men and had short brown hair, pretty green eyes, and a very generic face. He was like Regan in the sense that he took things very seriously, but was quieter than him and less of an ass about it. Tarence was only awful when the men around him were more masculine, he would try to “prove his manliness” by being a cruel bastard to Eros. But with Ian here, Tarence would likely keep to himself. Eros was very content with this pairing, especially in comparison to Regan and Dallas.  
“Come eat.” Ian called over to Eros who almost tripped over his arms crawling over excitedly.  
Ian stared at Eros who kneeled between his legs for a few seconds then began feeding him pieces of leftovers with his hands. Eros was used to this, especially from Ian, he was one of the less sadistic men. Ian just liked to have someone at his feet who he could control, not necessarily torture.   
Grateful for the food and not knowing when he would get to eat next, Eros chewed as slowly as he could without getting Ian frustrated, savoring each bite and feeling his hunger begin to be satiated.  
He also kept an eye on Ian’s crotch while he ate, watching as his bulge slowly became more and more pronounced. He knew that Ian would want him to take care of it. Hopefully if he did a good job, he could get some water with the food.  
“Sir, do you wish for me to serve you?” He asked once he was done eating. Keeping eye contact, knowing it was something that Ian preferred, unlike most of the other guards who saw it as a sign of disobedience.  
“Serve me.” Ian responded quietly, still staring at Eros intensely.  
Eros nuzzled Ian’s cock through his pants then unzipped it slowly, staring up at him. First he licked his head a few times, then pressed it into his mouth. He began bobbing his head slowly, going deeper each time while doing his best to still hold eye contact with Ian.  
Ian grabbed Eros’ right hand and guided it to his balls, commanding him to stimulate them. Eros did as he asked and only a minute later did Ian break eye contact and groan. He pulled himself out of Eros’ mouth and jerked himself off onto Eros’ face, breathing heavily.  
“Good boy.” He praised and lifted his water cup up to Eros who tilted his head back. As the water slowly poured into his mouth, Eros closed his eyes and felt as the dryness that had been building in his throat dissipate.  
The rest of the morning was calm. Eros sat by the edge of the deck and stared into the water. There was a school of small fish, which was unusual, but he loved watching them swim around as their scales reflected the sunlight they caught. Sometimes he wished the water was clean enough that he could swim around in it, he used to be able to swim and surf back at his home, and the reminder caused him pain.  
He was so focused on watching the fish that he didn’t hear Tarence walking behind him and unzipping his pants. He jumped and yelped as Tarence pushed Eros down with no warning, his knees digging into Eros’ back to keep him still, not that Eros would try anything. Eros heard Tarence adjusting himself before he quickly pushed himself through still-sore muscle. Eros’ pain which had become a dull reminder of the night before, became a sharp sting which he couldn’t distract himself from.  
Tarence grunted and adjusted himself. “Damn you’re so fucking tight, and I thought I loosened you up last night.”  
Eros let out a small groan in response, trying to make it sound more like a moan, and braced himself for the rough and fast pace which Tarence always took.  
However it ended as fast as it started as Eros heard heavy boots running onto the deck and he heard Dallas say breathlessly “They’re here.”  
Tarence swore and immediately pulled himself out of Eros. "Fuck!" He cursed again, then yelled towards the side of the shack which held the second room "Ian, let's go. It's showtime."   
Ian came out running. “I know.” He replied grimly. “I just saw them.”  
Eros had no idea who or what the men were talking about and turned his head to the shack, watching in confusion as the three men ran out through the front door.  
Tarence had never once not finished what he was doing to Eros. Even if he was late or someone else was calling him, he took what he wanted. Granted it didn’t take long because he got off to the pain he caused Eros, but he had gotten up without a second thought this time.  
Eros then realized that this meant he was alone on the deck for the first time.  
He took a few minutes to calm himself down and tried to stand. His knees buckled and he swore quietly as he hit the deck which jostled his back.  
He crawled inside the shack and stared at the doorway which lead to the other room.  
If he just peeked in, he could see what the men were doing through the monitors which were connected to cameras all over the island. Eros had been the one to get them working for the men, he knew HOW to do it.  
But he just couldn’t.  
The second he opened the door, someone would walk in and see him. Or maybe someone was inside the room waiting for him. It could very well be an elaborate plot just to get him in trouble. They could hurt him as much as they wanted to without repercussions, but sometimes it was more fun to hurt someone when they were scared, or in trouble.  
Eros sat by the door for several hours. He didn’t make lunch, but nobody came by to beat him for it. When dinner started approaching he looked back at the door.  
If someone caught him, he could say he just wanted to know what was going on so he could know whether or not he should make dinner. It was an awful excuse but enough to make Eros move from his spot slowly and press his ear to the door. He couldn’t hear anyone.  
He touched his hand to the doorknob, almost expecting it to shock him, and waited for several minutes. Nothing happened so he began turning the knob. He then opened the door slowly, breathing hard even though it took no strength, he was sure that if anyone was inside then they would hear his heart pounding loudly through his chest.  
He hadn’t disobeyed orders since the first year he was here and it was causing him to panic. He took a final deep breath and held it as he slowly peered inside.  
He knew he needed to be fast so once the door opened, he quickly crawled up to the large monitors and looked up.  
He was surprised to see that Ian hadn’t powered them down before he left, but that meant Eros could be out of there faster without needing to turn them on or off.  
He quickly brought up the cameras and couldn’t help but gasp at what he saw. He stared for a few seconds and was taken back to the day he was captured


	3. Chapter Three

Eros had worked closely with the Marines in the United States Armed Forces as a flight officer in the Navy for many years. He learned how to engineer and program complex machinery, was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and a decent shot. When he had begun the mission which led him to be captured, all he was supposed to be doing was dropping off a small squad of the Marines so they could scope out the island, and report back as a part of their reconnaissance training. In most missions he would drop off the men and leave, returning at a later time, but because this was training, he stayed on the island.  
Andres was the one who found him. Eros had been eating while admiring the clear water from where he sat on the sand. Being in a place that looked so similar to his home had made him lose his guard and he forgot that although this was training and supposedly no one was here, there could still be enemies nearby.   
Eros remembered he had looked up after seeing a shadow to his right, and was met by the dark eyes of a man before something hard slammed into the back of his head and he felt a half second of intense sharp pain before he blacked out.  
No one had known there was an enemy group on the island. To this day, Eros still had no idea who exactly they were, or their goals, all he knew was that in the five years he had been here, nobody had come to rescue the men who had seemingly disappeared.  
Eros had woken up the next day with heavy shackles on his wrists and ankles, connecting to a metal collar which was anchored into the wooden deck he was curled up on. It took him several minutes to open his eyes, hissing as the bright light pierced them. His muscles felt rubbery and as he slowly tried to stretch them against the heavy chains, he noticed with disgust that he had no clothes on. He wasn’t wearing underwear, let alone his uniform, and he felt a gentle breeze blow in areas which made him feel incredibly exposed.  
After several hours, Andres had come out from the shack and unhooked Eros’ collar from the deck without a word, allowing him to sit up.  
Immediately Eros jumped up and wrapped the chains connected to his wrists around Andre’s neck. Weakened from lack of food, and disoriented from the blow to the back of his head, Eros’ legs gave out, but instead of letting go, he twisted the chains and put all his weight on choking the man.  
It only took a few seconds for the other men outside to rip open the wooden door of the cage. Eros gathered enough strength to roll to his right as one of the men went to grab him, further choking Andres.  
A second later he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to the back of his head and someone growled in his ear. “Calm down little darling, release Andres or I will put enough bullets through your skull so I can fuck your brain.”  
Eros shuddered in disgust but didn't let go until the man swung his fist into the back of his already concussed head. He then went limp against his will, as his body lost function and was pulled away from Andres who coughed several times, but was unharmed. Eros was then punched roughly in the face by the man with the gun who was huge. He had long reddish brown hair and a full beard and mustache combo.  
“Try shit like that again and I’ll break your arms.” He threatened, grabbing Eros’ left arm and applying pressure until Eros felt as if he was going to follow through with it, until he let go suddenly. The men left Eros after beating him for a few minutes and didn’t return until after dinner.  
Eros had been raped for the first time that night.  
He remembered the fear and agony that he felt, but also the determination to escape, and he felt shame coil down in his stomach for not trying harder after he was allowed out of that horrid cage. After several of his first attempts to escape, the cage was lined with iron and an extra section was added, making anyone trying to enter or exit have to go through two doors, the first one leading to a small section large enough to hold five people. Another door inside the small section led to the main area of the cage which was big enough to fit twenty people. The doors could only be opened electronically through switches in the room Eros was in.  
Eros was pulled away from his thoughts as he heard gunshots from nearby. In the monitors he could see that several men had come through the far end of the island in a black hawk and were shooting against the men on the island. He counted sixteen in total against his eleven torturers and felt the unfamiliar sensation of hope float up through his chest.  
He couldn’t help but watch the fight between the groups, recognizing the uniforms of the newcomers as Navy SEALs, one of the fiercest special operations forces in the world. As the SEALs began firing, Eros’ tormentors took cover and he felt a flash of glee shooting through him, watching as Tarence was shot in his arm and Andres pulled him to safety.  
One of the SEALs put something up to their face that Eros couldn’t make out through the screen and appeared to throw it. Although Eros couldn’t see what is was, Ian and Dallas clearly did as they jumped away from each other and covered their heads as what had apparently been a grenade exploded, blowing shrapnel in the air and causing sand to fly into the air.  
The sand cloud moved towards the camera, and Eros was frustrated by the fact that he could no longer see anyone besides Andres tending to Tarence’s arm on the far left side, while the right side which held the incomers was blocked.  
Watching the screen, Eros waited for the sand to clear before deciding what to do, if he did nothing, there was still a high chance that the men could kill the guards and Eros would just have to leave the shack and get to them without being shot.  
Suddenly, as the sand had cleared, Eros saw several men appear from the forest behind the SEALs, his hopes for them to be fellow servicemen were doused as they began shooting the SEALs. Two went down in the first twenty seconds as the others quickly split for their own cover but it was too late.  
They had been surrounded.  
Eros was horrified. He had never seen any other people on the island besides his eleven torturers who had never mentioned anyone else. His hope turned to ashes in his mouth as the SEALs threw down their weapons in a sign of surrender against the fifty or so others. Eros felt dread over what this could mean. When he had flown over the island he thought he had seen most of it- How could there be so many others nearby?  
The idea of there being many more people with the same ideals as his torturers so close by made a wave of nausea pass over Eros and he doubled over and retched, crossing his arms around his chest and rubbing it to try and relieve the pain he felt.  
He sat numbly for almost ten minutes before he realized that the men would be coming back within an hour or so, and with prisoners. Unless they killed them like Eros assumed they did to the Marines he had come with.  
His whole body shook so he resigned to crawling as he exited the room with the electronics and proceeded to the kitchen to cook. He couldn’t even focus on making food as he thought of all the possibilities which could occur. Most of which ended with Eros’ spying being discovered and him being tortured for. Maybe Richard would carry out his promise to fuck his brain.  
It took Eros an hour to cook an especially large meal of chicken fettuccine alfredo with a side salad. He had to keep the food warm for another thirty minutes before he heard the loud arrival of the men and their apparent prisoners.  
Nathan was the first to come through the door, holding the tight chains behind a man’s back who also had chains on his now bare feet, a gag in his mouth, and a blindfold covered his eyes. His gear had been removed from him so he only wore a black undershirt and dark cargo pants with empty pockets.  
Eros stared at Nathan like a deer in headlights, he knew his mouth was open slightly, but he couldn’t seem to close it. Not that he cared. He had to act at least a little unsuspecting, even if he truly was not prepared for this. He hadn’t seen any men besides the one in this shack in person for five years and he realized he had no idea what to do.  
“Open both doors to the cage.” Nathan ordered coming further into the room where his men followed, each pushing a man, or in Andres’ case, two, forward, each in the same situation as the man in front.  
Eros felt his heart rate escalate and his muscles froze, refusing to move him from his spot.  
“Hurry up dumb bitch!” Tarence yelled. He was also holding the chains of a man, only using his left hand, as his right arm was heavily bandaged.  
Eros still couldn't move and Regan was immediately angered.  
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Regan roared, pushing his knee into the back of the man he was pushing so he fell to the floor on his knees.  
Regan crossed the floor and backhanded Eros across his face so hard he thought he saw stars, and knew he tasted blood in his mouth. He quickly snapped out of the beginning of what must have been a panic attack and dropped his eyes to the ground.  
“O-o-f c-course s-sir.” Eros said, disgusted by his shaking voice and stuttering.  
He quickly dropped to his knees and crawled back into the room where he had seen the events unfold almost two hours ago. Unlocking the doors was easy and after he had done it, Eros crawled back outside the room, waiting for the signal to lock them. After listening to the grunts of the prisoners and jeers from the guards for several minutes, he decided to crawl to the deck entrance and peer carefully over the corner.  
The guards had hooked each of the men’s chains to loops in the cage. Connecting their feet to the ground still allowing them to move their feet a generous amount. Their arms were not restrained by anything more than the shackles behind them. Each man’s shackles needed a specific key to open them, and doing so by hand was impossible.  
When the new prisoners were all tied up, Nathan turned around and Eros ducked his head back inside quickly. There was a pause, then Eros heard the command to lock the doors.  
Eros did so and then began moving the dinner onto trays to serve. The men were tired and hungry, therefore they didn’t touch or pinch Eros as much as usual. It wasn’t until they had food in their stomachs that the first man brought out his cock for Eros to suck.  
It was Nico, the only other man that Eros would consider handsome if he hadn’t been a vicious bastard. He wore his dark brown hair in shoulder-length dreads, his eyes were such a dark blue that they almost looked black, and he had a small scruffy patch of beard on his chin.  
He forced Eros to choke several times, and for the first time in years, he felt truly embarrassed over an action which had sadly become normal for him. He knew that the prisoners, although still blindfolded and gagged, could hear him choking, and he hoped they thought that he was being choked by someone’s hands instead of their cock.  
Nico came down Eros’ throat, causing him to cough as he tried to swallow it. Strangely no one else called him over once he was done and Eros sat between Nico’s legs, waiting for him to be kicked away, or for the nightly entertainment to begin.  
Although he had been starting to hope that it would be the first night since he had been captured that there was no nightly entertainment, he was disappointed. Apparently all the men hadn’t gotten a chance to relieve themselves during the day and took the opportunity to use Eros. They pissed on him as he lay huddled on the deck, and would drink it as needed.  
The heat and salt burned his eyes and he choked, forcing himself to continue to swallow gulp after disgusting gulp of urine which just furthered his dehydration.  
When the men had finished, Eros was given no water and no permission to clean himself off. He sat by the edge of the water and tried to come up with more stories about the stars above him but he couldn't help but watch the prisoners as they slept and wonder if they would all meet the same fate he had.


	4. Chapter 4

Eros woke up before dawn the next day after fitful sleeping and felt Ian’s eyes watching him through the darkness.  
He crawled across the deck, glancing at the prisoners and quietly asked Ian: “Do you need me to do anything before I make breakfast?”  
“No.” Ian responded evenly. “Not me. Go see if Tarence does.”  
Eros complied, peering through the door to the computer room, only to find Tarence fast asleep, injured arm laid across his chest.  
After carefully closing the door, Eros stood to make breakfast, satisfied with the pops and cracks as he stretched his joints. He wondered if he should make extra breakfast in order to feed the prisoners but decided to wait until instructed.  
As one of the men entered, Eros noticed he was carrying a strange object in his hand. Liam was the most feminine looking man of the guards, with long blonde hair he wore in a braid behind his back and large electric blue eyes. The other men saw his feminine appearance as a weakness which he sought to cover by growing a stubbly blonde beard and by acquiring a fascination with torture by use of various tools, generally ones he could cut his victims with.  
The object in his hand, however, did not appear to be a part of his normal arsenal. It had no sharp edges, rather it was a long black rod, about two feet in length but only an inch or two in diameter.  
Eros assumed that this new “toy” would be going inside himself. He had no idea how he could fit the whole thing in without it going up his stomach but knew he couldn’t do anything to avoid it, so Eros averted his eyes and finished up cooking.  
After passing out food to the men outside, he brought a plate to the computer room. When he was called in after knocking, he entered and placed the plate on the desk Tarence was sitting at while clicking through several cameras. Eros noticed he was looking at them during the time of the attack yesterday and realized that if he went through all of them, his spying would be found out.  
Fear rose in his throat and he quickly thought of a way to hopefully distract Tarence.  
“Sir?” Eros asked. “Would you like anything else for breakfast?”  
Just as expected, Tarence looked up at him and smirked, reaching around Eros to slap his ass hard.  
“You know I want a piece of that tight ass.”  
Eros stepped closer to him and put his own hands on Tarence’s and squeezed them on his ass. He pushed Tarence back into his seat and straddled him reaching his right hand around to zip open Tarence’s pants and pulled his cock out of his underwear while his left hand moved lower to stretch himself.  
Eros moaned while switching between pumping Tarence and massaging his balls. After he could fit three of his fingers inside himself while scissoring his hole, he lifted himself and replaced his fingers with something larger. Tarence, ever the impatient one, began thrusting into Eros, but could only grab him with his uninjured left arm.  
“Ride me hard baby.” He commanded breathlessly.  
“Yes Sir.” Eros responded and picked up a fast pace, plunging his hole down around Tarence’s length, feeling as his muscles continued to stretch around it. He wrapped his arms around Tarence’s neck to give him more leverage and was able to keep the pace until he felt something hot and wet fill his insides. He slowed his pace then stopped entirely, lifting himself off of Tarence and falling to his knees to clean his cock.  
Once he had finished, Eros looked up. “Sir, I believe Master Liam has a new toy he wishes to use. I can bring your breakfast out for you to eat while you watch if you would like.”  
Tarence looked at the monitors for a second before responding. “Bring it out.”  
Much to Eros’ disappointment, he was gestured out in front of Tarence, so he couldn’t check if the cameras revealed his actions. He wasn’t all that surprised, but hoped that Tarence would forget about the task he was carrying out after breakfast.  
After Tarence had sat down on the deck, Eros handed him his food and turned his attention to Liam.  
“What’s that for?” Richard asked, bringing the other men’s attention over to Liam. “A curling iron for your locks?”  
Liam glared back at Richard. “No you dick, it’s not for me. And you’re one to talk, your hair isn’t that much shorter than mine.”  
“I don’t wear mine in a braid, and I can actually grow decent facial hair as opposed to yours which looks like you glued pubes to your face.” Richard responded drollely, making the other men laugh while Liam scowled.  
Eros was confused when Liam walked over to the prisoners instead of calling him over. He pushed the rod through one of the bars into the back of one of the prisoners and pushed a button that Eros hadn’t seen on it.  
Immediately the man behind the bars groaned as electricity sparked through the weapon. The men turned their amusement of Liam, towards the man being electrocuted. Blue-ish looking sparks lashed through the air and Liam moved the stun rod to his victims ear. He held it there until the man’s groans became louder, turning into a muffled yell as the smell of burning flesh permeated the air. Liam finally pulled away from the bars, turning the rod off and handing it over to Nico.  
Nico amused himself by placing the rod under the men’s asses and shocking them, watching their uncomfortable squirms turn into jumps, then groaning through their gags as they tried to escape the shock.  
“Just imagine what it would do if we put it IN them.” Dallas cackled.  
Eros averted his eyes and tried to lower himself but Richard caught sight of him.  
“Good thing we have a good little sex slut.” He said. “Grab him.”  
Ian and Regan were the closest to him and each grabbed an arm, dragging him over to Nico who smirked wickedly. Eros wouldn’t have run anyway, he turned himself towards the cage so his ass faced the sitting men and spread his legs, making Nico’s smirk grow wider. He walked to the side of Eros and placed the tip of the rod to his entrance.  
Eros was grateful for Tarence’s need to fuck him beforehand so at least the rod entering him wasn’t painful. He heard Nico click the button and immediately fell to the deck, losing all control of his muscles as a strong shock of electricity coursed through him. He couldn’t even squirm away from Nico, not that the thought crossed his mind which had become almost blank, only focusing on the strange new pain he felt.  
Nico kept the rod on for several more seconds, watching as Eros' body convulsed.  
Eros couldn’t manage to make any noise, even as Nico clicked off the electricity. He felt as if his ears were ringing and he couldn’t hear the laughs of the men through his haze of confusion. It took several minutes for Eros to come to his senses and he realized all the men had left.  
Tarence had moved to his own chair to keep watch while Ian now stayed in the machinery room and Eros hoped that Ian wasn’t also looking at the cameras from yesterday.  
He sat by the cage and an hour later when Tarence walked inside he whispered to the man closest to him. “Are you guys really Navy SEALs?”  
The man flinched, not aware that anyone had been near, but didn’t respond. Not that he could with his mouth gagged.  
Eros looked towards the entryway and sprung away from the cage as he heard Ian’s footsteps exit the machinery room, pretending to be watching the water. However instead of going onto the deck, Ian opened the front door and let two men in.  
It was the twins, Dylan and Kyle. Both had medium brown hair, tanned skin, and eyes which were gray. Dylan's eyes had blue speckles in them and Kyle’s had green, but that wasn’t the only difference between the two. Dylan was a very reserved no-nonsense kind of guy, he wore his hair tidy and showed little emotion. Kyle on the other hand was rambunctious and immature, his hair was perpetually an untameable mess, and he always made sure that his emotions were known. They weren’t the most sadistic of the guards, however, Kyle worked with Nico to come up with games that they forced Eros to play.  
The games usually involved taking away one of his senses and forcing him to perform tasks that proved to be difficult without them. They hadn’t been a part of the nightly entertainment for a while so Eros expected it would come up soon.  
The two men were here to deliver more food. They carried in several large bags which appeared to all contain the same item. Eros had no idea how food got to the island or who delivered it, but it seemed to come on a near-weekly basis.  
“Eros come here.” He heard Dylan call and crawled quickly inside to see that the three men were pouring out a sack of brown rice into a large cooker.  
“This is what you will be feeding the prisoners, but only when you are told to.” Dylan explained. “Cook two sacks of rice and add whatever leftover items we have from other meals, or foods that will, or have, gone bad.” He gestured to a stack of small plastic bowls. “You will fill the bowls halfway each time they get to eat.”  
He then explained the procedure: Eros would cook the mixture about every week and it would sit in a cooler with nothing to actually keep it cool or fresh. He explained exactly how Eros would go about feeding them. All in a monotone voice.  
When he was done, Kyle told Dylan: “I’ve been real horny ever since seeing that rod up his ass, I’m going to have him take care of me real quick, then we can leave.”  
Kyle went to grab Eros but was stopped by Dylan.  
“We don’t have time, Nathan wants us to work with him for at least three more hours before lunch, he’ll be expecting us soon.”  
“Aw come one!” Kyle whined. “What’s the point of him being here if I can’t use him?”  
Dylan ignored him and walked out the front door. Kyle gave a sigh and glanced back at Eros with a wink. “I’ll be back at lunch.”  
Eros nodded and waited until the front door was closed before turning back to Ian.  
“Start on the rice, then you can come back outside.” He told Eros before walking back onto the deck.  
Eros did as he was told, adding eggs and pieces of bacon, carrots, and red bell pepper together while the rice cooked.  
When he got outside, he was able to go back to the water’s edge and he began humming quietly to himself, relaxing under the sun’s warm rays and the sound of the water flowing gently underneath him. When it was time to make lunch, he left his spot reluctantly, although he loved cooking, when he got as relaxed as he was outside, it was hard to get back to that point again.  
He cooked and served the food to the men as usual but before he could offer up his body, Nathan told him to get food for the prisoners.  
Eros prepared the food, adding the now-cooked rice which was still hot, to the egg, meat, and vegetable mix, stirring it all together, and then filling up the bowls.  
Ian opened up the first area to the cage and as Eros walked into the first area holding the tray of food, he felt a wave of apprehension wash over him at being back inside of it. He closed the door behind himself and heard it lock before the next door unlocked. He walked through and closed the door before placing the tray down by the entrance where none of the prisoners could reach it.  
When he got to the first man, he knelt down and quietly told him “I’m going to take out your gag, If you make any sound, you don’t get to eat.” The man gave him a single nod and Eros reached his hand around his head to unclip the tie. The man licked his dry lips and Eros warned him before taking off his blindfold. The man blinked a few times, looking around, eyes darkening when he saw the men around him tied up.  
The man looked at Eros for half a second before he swung his arms to his side and jumped forward, catching Eros around his neck and choking him. The man tightened the chains in the same manner Eros had done to Andres years before despite the fact that the man’s arms were behind his back. The way he twisted them around had him standing while facing the men outside and Eros’ back and crouching legs were pressed against the back of the man’s legs.  
Eros tried to grip the chain and pull it away to get a breath but his strength was no match for the man choking him and he struggled to squirm away, tears burning in his eyes. He tried digging his nails into the man’s feet but he just lifted his foot and stomped hard on them, keeping Eros completely immobile.  
“Unlock all of our chains, and I won’t choke your man to death.”


	5. Chapter 5

The edge of Eros’ eyes began turning black as he kicked out his legs, trying to latch onto something he could pull himself away from the prisoner. His chest was burning as the man choking him maintained a painful pressure on his throat.  
The lunch chatter continued without even slowing.  
“Fine.” The man growled.  
The pressure on Eros’ throat increased and he managed a small cry, trying to say please but only managing an “mmph.”  
Although the chatter continued, Richard looked up and laughed. “Go ahead and do it princess, he ain’t worth nothin’ to us. We will even leave his body in there for y’all to live off of.”  
The man hesitated and Eros closed his eyes as he felt as if his lungs were going to explode. He didn’t even attempt to move his hands or legs, he just felt too weak.  
The man shifted his grip on his chains and turned his head to the side, looking behind himself. After a few more seconds he let out a sigh, pulling his chains away from Eros and stepping off of his hands. Eros gasped and fell back onto him. He clutched his throat, gulping in as much air as possible.  
The man turned around and glared at Eros, pushing him away, but stayed standing where he was.  
Eros fell back but didn’t try to move to safety, he just laid where he was and tried to take deep breaths of the sweet air. When he was finally able to see and didn’t feel as light-headed, Eros saw Liam walking over to the cage with the taser rod in his hands.  
He stuck it through and jammed it into the ribs of the man who flinched and fell back against the wall of the cage, slowly sliding down to the bottom. The guards snickered at this but grew quiet as their leader spoke.  
“Put his gag and blindfold back on” Nathan commanded Eros from where he sat before addressing all the prisoners. “I know going from soldiers to prisoners is something you wish to postpone. However, if you do not follow my exact orders or those of my men, I assure you I can greatly increase the speed at which you become more comfortable with the idea.”  
Nathan paused, giving Eros a pointed look who quickly put the man’s gag and blindfold back on him.  
“The idea of being a team is something I know you all value highly so let’s make a deal. One of you fuck up any of the rules we set up for you, and I can assure you, my men will make you suffer in ways that would make Satan himself proud. To demonstrate what I mean by this, I’ll give you an example: Your man fucked up, now none of you will get to eat.” Nathan paused and looked to Ian. “Let him out.”  
Ian Left to open up the doors so Eros could leave the cage while Eros gathered up the food that had spilled all over the floor from the bowl he had dropped. He took the tray of food and dropped it back into the cooler with all the other rice as ordered to do so.  
When he came outside, some of the men had already finished eating and had begun to get up and leave. The incident with the prisoner had taken enough time out of lunch that Eros was hopeful no one would ask for anything else.  
“Come over here cocksucker.”  
Or not.  
Apparently Kyle decided that the sidetrack from a normal lunch would not deter him from getting what he wanted. His immature and self glorifying comments made it hard to take any threats seriously but Eros managed to not snort as he crawled over to Kyle who was standing by the edge of the water.  
Kyle gave no commands but glanced down at his pants, then at Eros who took the message.  
When Eros pulled Kyle’s cock out of his pants, he licked the shaft sloppily and put the head in his mouth. Kyle had the mindset of a teenager still and any act Eros had to perform on him didn’t last long. He began deepthroating Kyle quickly, who stood with his hands on his hips, thankfully not grabbing Eros’ hair.  
Only a minute or two later, Kyle thrust roughly and commanded Eros to swallow his seed as he came.  
Kyle stood breathlessly for a few seconds before his eyes flashed to Eros’. He had no time to react as Kyle grabbed him by his shoulders and a second later he found himself in the water by the deck.  
Fucking brat   
Eros wanted to roll his eyes but didn’t want to risk so in the water which was likely contaminated. Luckily the water wasn’t deep at all and Eros was able to poke his head above the water. Kyle was laughing as if it was the most creative thing ever done to Eros while Dylan was shaking his head behind him.  
“If we weren’t twins, I’d accuse you of being the product of incest, but I don’t want to insult myself.”  
“Come on!” Kyle guffawed between breaths. “Did you see the look of surprise on his face?”  
Dylan rolled his eyes the same time Eros did, glad that the water hid the action.  
“It wasn't funny the first five times you pushed him in the water, now come on, at this rate we’ll be late to work because of you. Again.”  
Eros swam to the corner of the deck and used the wooden leg which disappeared into the water to push his legs up. The deck had flat flooring, with nothing along the edges to hold onto, but Eros had been pushed into the water enough times to get back on deck with no problem.  
If he hadn’t felt something slimy float past his leg when he was in the water, he might of stayed longer. However he had no desire to get sick so he laid on the deck to dry off in the sun instead.  
Eros lifted his hands to his neck and cringed at the tenderness he felt. He was sure that if he had looked in a mirror he would have seen dark mottled bruises along where he had been choked. He would have thought that the reason Kyle hadn’t pulled his hair was in consideration for the pain he was in, but Kyle was stuck in his own desires and didn’t choke him much in the first place.  
At this point, Ian came out to trade shifts with Tarence. However before doing so, they spoke in hushed voices, glancing at the prisoners and Eros, then back to each other. Eros felt a sense of foreboding wash over him, making him shiver. However, instead of being called out for the incident with the prisoner, Ian took Tarence’s place without either of them saying anything to Eros.  
After a few hours of laying in the sun and trying to soothe his neck, Eros began preparing dinner. Close to the time to eat, the guards began arriving so he quickly finished up the meal and put a generous serving of spaghetti and salad on the plates, which were then placed on serving dishes.  
Liam was sitting with Kyle, Nico, and Tarence next to the prisoners cage, while Dallas, Ian, Andres and Dylan sat close to the water by the shack door. Nathan was talking quietly with Regan, and Richard had yet to arrive. Eros served everyone food before he crawled around and asked to suck cock, to which he received an affirmative from Dallas and Dylan.  
After taking care of Dylan, Eros was given his plate to lick off the leftovers on it, along with a few sips of water.  
“Slave, go unlock the cage for us.” Nico commanded, walking over to the entrance of it.  
Eros quickly crawled into the monitor room and did as he was told, he opened the first door, locking it once Nico was inside the first room, then unlocked the second. Nico first took off the blindfolds of every man, then unlocked the chains connected to the ground of the man who had attacked Eros this morning and Eros got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as the man was tased and dragged outside, doors unlocked and locked properly as needed.  
Eros crawled back outside cautiously and began to clean up dishes as the men gathered around the prisoner whose hands and feet chains were hooked into the deck by new stakes. He was on his stomach, arms stretched straight in front of him while his legs were straight behind him.  
Nico grabbed the back of the man’s shirt and ribbed it, exposing his tan and taught muscles which rippled as he struggled to escape his restraints.  
“Now we’re going to keep this nice and simple. You answer our questions, and we won’t hurt you.” Nico told the man as he pulled out his gag. “Do you understand? Nod if you do.”  
The man stared defiantly up at him without answering, but this just made Liam and Kyle grin.  
“Alright then, let’s get started.” Richard boomed, making his way across the deck with what appeared to be a flogger. The thing that stood out, however, was the fact that the strips of leather were lined with metal, and barbs whose tips glinted menacingly in the light which would begin to die.  
Richard pulled his arm back and threw it down at the man’s back hard. The man flinched, but to his credit, didn’t make a sound. However he began bleeding immediately and only after five more strikes did he let out a quiet grunt. Eros watched as the eyes of the prisoners followed the whip as it hit their comrade, but their expressions did not reveal any emotions. Those with their backs on the side which faced the shack turned around to watch, and after fifteen hits, Richard stopped. The chuckles of the other men quieted as they waited for him to start again.  
“Now, how about you answer Nico’s question? Do you understand what we are going to do?”  
The man gritted his teeth as sweat began accumulating at his brow and small amounts of blood began dripping where he was hit the deepest.  
After a few seconds of silence, Richard rose the whip to strike him again but the man quickly responded.  
“Yes.”  
Richard chuckled. “You see, that wasn’t too hard.” Then he passed the whip on to Nathan.  
“First question.” Nathan stated. “What’s your name?”  
The prisoner stared at the deck, once again not responding.  
“That’s alright. I hoped you wouldn’t answer straight away anyways.” Nathan lifted the whip and struck him with ten blows, each harder than the last. By the time he made it to the tenth one, the prisoner’s quiet grunts had become louder, each cut bleeding more and the blood began sliding to the small of his back.  
Nathan paused for a second, making the man look up cautiously, before he began hitting him again, putting his full force into it. After ten more, the man was groaning. Fifteen after that, screaming. The prisoners began looking away as the man’s back became more and more flayed. Not a piece of it was left unmarked, each cut bled and the blood began to fill the curves of his back and pooled over to touch the deck. Pieces of skin were barely hanging onto his back which resembled raw ground beef more than anything.  
But he still didn’t answer the question.  
At least until Richard came back and began pummeling his back with his fists. Each punch made a wet squelching noise which could be heard over the man’s screams as he tried, with no success to escape. Despite the long time it was taking, the guards were amused by the man’s pain, taunting him with their words or mock cries.  
Suddenly the man gasped. “Fine! I’ll tell you!”  
Richard stopped and the man took a few shaky breaths before he continued, with shame in his eyes. “My name is Daniel Torrez.”  
“You could have told us straight away and you wouldn’t be in as much pain.” Nathan responded. “That was just the first of many questions. Now onto the next part.”  
Kyle and Nico took that as a command as they walked over to Eros who looked at them startled. He had no idea what they were planning to do but it couldn’t be good. They grabbed his arms and dragged him over to the man, placing him on his stomach next to him, but not tying him down in any way.  
“This game is simple.” Nico began explaining, and Eros heart dropped at that. He hated the games he was forced to play. “You will take turns picking who will get whipped. After five lashes, they will get the opportunity to answer a question. If they don’t answer, they get five more hits, and the other gets to pick who gets whipped next. Whoever answers their question first wins.”  
Kyle looked gleeful while Nico had a sick grin on his face and the other men laughed. As long as someone was in pain, they were happy.  
“Baby SEAL, as you are a guest, you go first. Who should we whip, you or him.” Kyle demanded.  
The man next to Eros looked at him. He saw disgust in his eyes and yet said firmly. “Me.”  
Five lashes. New question: “How does the U.S. know we are here?” No response. Five more lashes. Eros’ turn.  
“Please whip me sir.” He asked Nathan when prompted to choose.  
All the prisoners saw a malnourished young man who spoke timidly and thought to themselves how he would break very soon. But after five lashes which tore through his skin more harshly than that of the other man due to his fragile and already injured back, he didn’t make a noise, he barely even flinched.  
“Why were you watching the monitors?” Nathan demanded quietly.  
Eros felt the minimal blood he had drain from his face as fear seeped into his skin and he felt strangled. He couldn’t breath and he froze under Nathan’s cold, terrifying stare. He should have known this would happen. It was why Ian and Tarence spoke before trading shifts and he had known it deep down, but tried to convince himself that they couldn’t know.  
“Answer him!” Richard bellowed, making Eros flinch.  
Hopefully if he answered, the other man wouldn’t be tortured anymore. “I-I-I was just see-eeing if anyone w-w-was coming back for d-d-dinner, si-sir.” He lied.  
“That’s a pathetic excuse.” Nathan growled. “You thought your sorry ass was going to be rescued. You thought you could run away, didn’t you?”  
“No sir!” Eros cried out as Nathan began whipping him again, his anger now filling the atmosphere and seeming to bury itself in Eros’ skin, causing it to burn more harshly.  
“Don’t you fucking lie to me you dumb bitch!”  
Eros was whipped thirty more times before he lost count. He had definitely been hit more times than the man next to him but had barely let out any noises. He was used to the pain and knew when to keep quiet.  
The prisoners were very surprised as the young man’s flesh was torn brutally from his small back and blood poured around him, yet he made no sound. The pain was intense, however, Eros knew that if he stayed quiet, Nathan would continue to hit him and hopefully leave Daniel alone.  
Eventually Nathan paused to ask the prisoner who to whip. The man looked at Eros once again and gritted his teeth. Eros knew that the man wanted to have Eros be whipped instead but he told Nathan to whip him. Nathan complied, and the man gave a long scream of agony as his wounds were aggravated after a break. Eros knew the man wouldn’t be able to take any more.  
Eros was whipped. No questions were asked anymore, there was no way to escape, only to try to survive the night.  
The next time Nathan asked the prisoner, he didn’t look at Eros. “Him.” He told Nathan dejectedly.  
Eros was relieved. He knew he could handle the pain dealt out to him. Nathan had switched the flogger to leather a while ago in order to cause pain without having his victims bleed out, and Eros was hit forty five more times by his choice and of the other prisoner’s before Nathan kicked him hard in his side.  
“Get up and chain this man.”  
Eros pulled himself slowly to his hands and knees and used a wrench to pull the stakes which held Daniel, out of the deck. Nico, Liam, and Kyle stayed behind to watch while the others left. Eros was given no help as he did his best to drag the man who was much heavier than him to the cage as carefully as he could. Daniel watched him struggling after a few seconds and jerked out of Eros’ grip. “Don’t touch me.”  
“I have to get you inside. This is where you are supposed to sleep.” Eros replied more calm than he felt.  
“And where do you sleep? On a nice feather bed with you other men?”  
Eros didn’t respond, but let go of the man and moved towards the cage, gesturing for the other man to follow him. “Have you not been hurt enough tonight? Just listen to them and they won’t hurt you.”  
“You are their bitch then.” Daniel responded acidly, Eros flinched on the inside but he stayed quiet.  
Daniel shook his head in disgust and finally got to his feet, but his injuries must have gotten to him because he swayed, and when he tried to correct himself, he fell back down.  
“Shit.” He cursed under his breath and looked accusingly at Eros as if he had been the one to whip him.  
Finally Daniel shook his head in disgust and resorted to crawling to the cage.  
The doors were opened for Eros and he moved Daniel back to his spot, then put the blindfolds back on each man as ordered by Liam before he and the other two men left.  
“I’m sorry.” Eros said quietly before leaving the cage and settling on his stomach by the edge of the water. He wanted to look at the stars, they were his hope when he was hurt or scared. He was just in too much pain, and laying on his back was not an option so he tried to see them through the reflection of the dirty lake water.


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the exhaustion which had seeped into Eros’ bones, falling asleep turned out to be much harder than he had expected. He kept his eyes on Daniel for the first hour or so after the guards had left Tarence behind for the first outside shift. While the other prisoners’ heads began dropping forward one by one as they fell asleep, Daniel sat rigidly. Eros could tell he was trying to sit without letting his back touch the cage wall, but eventually, his shaky breaths calmed slightly and he fell back against it.  
After every prisoner had fallen asleep, Eros checked in on himself. Without being able to look, he could still tell that there was not a part of his back that had been left untouched. Even the deepest cuts were less than two or three centimeters, however, each one was long and added to the symphony of pain his body was in. His neck and throat were still sore from being choked and his spine was still tender from being thrown around. His back had burned right after receiving his punishment but as the pain turned his back numb, he began to shiver at the chill that fell over him but couldn’t curl up to conserve heat without making the pain worse.  
He could still feel the terror he had felt when he realized that his captors knew about his brief hope for escape. Eros had become too used to being owned and following orders without questioning them to remember what life would be like off this island. This was his reality. He had no control over his life and that was his cold hard truth. He had to fight hard to earn small amounts of food and water and didn’t get to choose how he was treated. Not even the simple freedom of walking was allowed, and this had become normal.  
Whatever had possessed him to think that his reality would be changed had gotten him fucked over.  
Eros slept restlessly and awoke hours before dawn to the sound of groaning. At first, he was worried he had been making noise in his sleep, but it continued after he awoke. Eros lifted his head off the deck and peered over at the prisoners, seeing that one of the men was squirming slightly. After crawling over, he saw that it was Daniel, who was in fact not awake but groaning in pain quietly in his sleep. Several mosquitoes had taken advantage of his bleeding open wounds and were feasting.  
Eros killed the mosquitoes quickly and checked Daniel’s wounds. They had stopped bleeding thankfully, except a few areas where the cage bars had aggravated his wounds. The man’s shirt had been ripped in half on his back but was still intact on the sleeves and front so Eros grabbed the bottom of each side of the shirt and gently tied a loose knot. He hoped it would provide Daniel a little more protection from the mosquitoes.  
The prisoner had not woken up during this but quieted down so Eros moved back to where he had been sleeping and tried to fall back asleep. He felt as though he had barely closed his eyes before it was time to get up and make breakfast. When he looked to Tarence sitting on the deck he looked for any sign that he wanted anything but was only greeted with tired eyes and a bored yawn so Eros crawled inside and made breakfast and set it on trays as the men arrived.  
Luckily Liam didn’t seem to have any new toy to play with and Nathan walked right onto the deck without even looking at Eros. When the twins came in, they seemed tired enough that they weren’t even at each other's throats, as did Richard. As Eros looked closer, everyone seemed much more tired than usual. It couldn’t have been from last night’s “fun” as it hadn’t gone much later than any of the other night and the men were used to it.  
As long as it didn’t get Eros hurt more than he was, he didn’t care too much. When the men were tired, they tended to be more lenient, although this wasn’t the case all the time. Most of the men would become less animated but Richard would become extremely grumpy and yell at Eros, something that he still hadn’t become used to and would make him freeze up in fear.  
Eros finished up making breakfast and handed out the food to the guards with no problems other than an impatient slap from Richard which confirmed his sour mood. Nathan ordered Eros to feed the prisoners and this time when he got to Daniel and took off his gag and blindfold, he was met with a face much less threatening than when he choked Eros yesterday.  
“Daniel I’m going to give you your food but I can’t unlock your hands so you are going to have to lean forward.” He whispered to him.  
All he received was a hard glare and quiet “Fuck you” so Eros placed the food in front of him and grabbed the man’s arms to pull him forward as gently as possible. The eating position had him sitting on his knees with his arms shackled behind him and he had to lean forward to reach the food placed on the ground.  
When Eros had Daniel situated, he moved on to the next prisoner and repeated the process. Each man looked surprised and then confused to be handled by a naked starving boy and not one of the tough men who had captured them. Despite the humiliation of eating off the ground with no hands surrounded by fellow SEALs, the men were quite compliant and did not speak. They all gave Eros stares which had no pity but when it came to looking around at each other, they were hesitant and waited until they were sitting up before doing so.  
After each man finished eating, Eros would ask them to sit back again and place the blindfold over their eyes and gag in their mouth before taking their food dish and returning it to the tray he carried them in on.  
Despite Daniel being the first to receive his food, he was still struggling to eat by the time the others had finished.  
“If the little bitch ain’t grateful for the food then he doesn’t need to eat!” Richard barked across the deck after watching Eros wait a minute or so. “Take the food back and dump it with the rest.”  
“Yes sir” Eros responded and did as ordered. Daniel didn’t react very negatively when his food was taken away which worried Eros, just another glare but no words.  
By the time Eros returned to the deck only Andres, Richard, and Liam were on the deck. He hoped Richard would leave as well but luck was not on his side as Liam got up and headed inside.  
Richard was a rotten bastard to the core and had morbid fantasies which thankfully weren’t carried out fully because they would kill Eros, and none of the men felt like training another whore. However, he still enjoyed taking Eros’ abused hole when another man was inside of Eros and loved to push him into uncomfortable positions just to show his dominance and physical strength. When he was in a foul mood as he was today, he wouldn’t be as creative, but made up for it by yelling and using brute force.  
Andres was the opposite of Richard. Compared to the other men, Eros could almost call him the “Quiet giant” of the guards. He rarely spoke and almost never fucked Eros. He was generous in food and at times would even ask Eros to sing for him or just to talk. Andres was definitely Eros’ favorite, however, he wasn’t innocent of the crimes of the other men. Although he could almost be called kind when he was on his own, he still followed the orders of the other men. They rarely asked for it, but if he was told to punish Eros, he would. He might not take the initiative to do so, but to Eros, he was still an evil bastard.  
Richard let out a wide yawn as he stretched his arms over his head and then looked to Andres.  
“You stay out here, I’m ‘onna go doze.” He ordered.  
Andres didn’t say anything back but gave a slight nod to indicate he understood. Then after Richard was inside, Andres looked pointedly at Eros who crawled over. He handed Eros his plate which only had a small amount of leftover food on it, but Eros was still glad to eat. He savored each bite until it was gone, chewing slowly with his eyes closed and murmured a small “Thank you” to Andres who responded by taking Eros’ plate.  
Eros’ eyes widened when Andres replaced the plate Eros had been holding with a new plate which had the leftovers from another one of the guards. He felt gleeful and couldn’t stop a smile from crossing his lips. Unlike the other men, Andres wouldn’t expect something awful in return for the extra food he was giving Eros.  
The smile was not reciprocated but that was expected. After cleaning up the other dishes which he wasn’t allowed to eat, not that he wanted to after being full which hadn’t happened in what felt like forever, Eros crawled back outside.  
He was still in too much pain to lie down on his back so Eros opted for sitting cross-legged by the edge of the deck. He watched as colorful tropical birds flew in the air and chased each other playfully. They continued to fly in and out of the trees and Eros watched their wings in admiration, wishing that he had the ability to fly anywhere he wanted. He would love to be able to fly around the island, or even better, away from the island.  
The wings of the birds mesmerized Eros. He had collected the fallen feathers from birds he had found wherever he had been stationed in the world and held them proudly on display in his house. It had been months since he held a feather in his hands. They rarely flew near the shack in the lake as the guards would shoot them out of the sky, but one time a bird had flown by and the men had missed. They were too focused on watching the bird fly away that they hadn’t seen Eros catch the single feather the bird had lost. It had been a symbol of hope which was only temporary as Kyle had found it and made a game out of throwing it into the water for Eros to collect while his hands were tied together in front of him. He had lost the feather on the fourth throw.  
The birds continued to chase each other but moved outside of Eros’ line of sight and he sighed.  
About an hour later Daniel began shiver violently and Eros went to check on him after Andres gestured for him to do so. He pulled back his blindfold and turned his face to the side so he could get a better look and was worried when he felt that his forehead was burning up and he was covered in sweat. During breakfast Eros hadn’t noticed anything and it surprised him that the fever had struck him so suddenly.  
Eros removed the blindfold completely and Daniel’s eyes fluttered open hazily.  
“Can you hear me?” Eros asked him quietly after removing the gag.  
“Fuck off,” Daniel muttered half-heartedly.  
Eros felt his forehead again and then pressed his fingers to his neck to find a rapid pulse.  
He crawled to Andres after wiping off Daniel’s sweat with the blindfold. “He’s burning up really bad, can I get him some water?”  
Andres glanced at the shack and said nothing.  
“Please.” Eros pressed, “I’ll do whatever you want me to, just a little bit of water, and Richard doesn’t need to know.”  
Andres looked away and after thinking he grunted “A small cup. Nothing more.”  
“Thank you,” Eros replied, relieved.  
He went to the kitchen to get the water, quietly so Richard wouldn’t wake up, and brought it to Daniel.  
“I have some water for you.” He told him quietly and held the cup up to his lips.  
To Eros’ surprise, instead of cursing at him again, Daniel just drank the cup greedily until it was gone and licked his lips.  
“Is there any more?” He asked.  
“No. This is as much as I could get.” Eros told him.  
Daniel looked away and said nothing so Eros put the gag back in and placed the blindfold around his eyes gently.  
After crawling to Andres, and asking what it was that he wanted, Andres replied briefly saying “Later. My next shift outside.”  
Eros nodded and spent the rest of Andres’ shift sitting by the prisoners and wiping off Daniel’s sweat every once in a while. Richard slept through until lunch was being prepared and surprised Eros with a hard slap on the ass which made him yelp.  
Richard chuckled and gave him a harsh kiss on the lips before telling him to “Hurry the fuck up so he could get some of that sweet ass of his.”  
Eros complied with the order and spent most of the time between lunch and dinner pleasing Richard. After preparing dinner and passing it out to the guards, he fed the prisoners again and gave out a cup of water to each one as ordered.  
The nightly entertainment was not so rough that night. Nico brought his guitar out and Kyle made Eros dance for everyone. It was something he wasn’t great at but improved from the encouragement of Liam’s flogger which would strike his feet if he stumbled, his hips if they weren’t gyrating enough, and his arms if they weren’t moving gracefully.  
After sucking off most of the guards, they left Eros alone with Andres.  
“I want you to sing.” He told Eros after giving him a cup of water to drink.  
It had been a while, but Eros could still say he had a decent voice. Although it had once been a warm rumble, which he used to serenade his lover, after years of a lack of water and the long periods of silence broken by hours of screaming, Eros’ voice had become softer and raspier. Nonetheless, Eros did his best and sang the Tahitian lullabies he could remember from his mother’s boyfriend. There were words he couldn’t remember but he could just hum soft notes or add random words which flowed off his tongue. It had been so long and Eros actually found enjoyment in getting to sing for Andres as he sat in his chair and seemed to relax slightly. After singing for almost an hour, Andres gave him permission to sleep and Eros’ was able to do this, finding himself relaxed as he imagined his mother’s boyfriend or even his mother singing him lullabies.


	7. Chapter 7

It was still dark out when Eros was awoken by Richard’s unpleasant voice.  
“Boy, get your ass up.” He growled while shaking Eros roughly by his shoulders.  
Eros blinked the sleep from his eyes quickly and looked around. There was no one else on the deck and at first, Eros couldn’t see what had made Richard wake him up until he looked at the prisoners and saw that almost all of them were sitting up and appeared to be awake. Then he recognized the sound of someone groaning.  
“He won’t shut the fuck up. Go tell Andres to open the doors so I can throw him in the water and go back to sleep.” Richard ordered.  
Eros glanced at the cage again and saw Daniel’s form trembling. The desire to protect Daniel hit Eros hard and he closed his eyes hard trying to push it away. There had been no one to help Eros when first arrived but he still wanted to do his best to protect these prisoners who had come to hell.  
Eros clenched and unclenched his hands several times trying to work up some courage as Richard walked to the cage entrance before looking back at Eros and glaring when he realized his orders had been ignored.  
“Are you fucking deaf?” He snapped. “Unlock the doors unless you want me to fuck your corpse bloody!”  
Eros flinched and began crawling towards the shack when Daniel let out a particularly agonized groan. He stopped crawling and licked his dry lips nervously before turning to Richard.  
“Please master, if I can get him to quiet down in another way? In this state, it would be easy to get any information from him through questioning.” His voice trembled and became almost a whisper at the end and he avoided making eye contact.  
Richard was silent and Eros was too scared to look up and see the expression of fury that was no doubt on his face.  
SMACK.  
Eros’ head jerked to his left sharply as Richard crossed the deck in a second and backhanded him powerfully.  
“You don’t make the goddamn rules here princess. Your job is to take cock like the slut you are and stay quiet.” Richard barked.  
Eros tried to stop a whimper from coming out his throat but couldn’t. Richard grabbed Ero by his hair and began dragging him to the shack while muttering under his breath when a quiet voice stopped them.  
“He has a point.” Andres told Richard emotionlessly.  
“This dumb slut here doesn’t want to help us. He probably just wants to suck the man’s cock.” Richard retorted.  
Andres met him levely. “We can use the prisoner’s weakness to our advantage. Let the kid quiet him down and I’ll stay on the deck so you can sleep.”  
Richard glared at Andres. “You want to follow the advice of a slave? We know his motives are different than ours when it comes to these prisoners.”  
“His motives are different.” Andres agreed. “But that doesn’t make him wrong.”  
Richard’s grip on Eros’ hair tightened painfully and he expected Richard to kill Andres as well but was surprised when he simply threw Eros at the feet of Andres and shouldered his way past him into the shack.  
“Fine. But if I hear a single noise while I’m trying to sleep, I’ll open the doors myself and gut the prisoner and fuck you with the dead man’s cock.”  
Eros shuddered in revulsion as he righted himself and flinched at the pain that flowered across his back as his wounds began to bleed again.  
“Do what you can to quiet him or he will lose his tongue.” Andres told Eros.  
“You can’t question a man who can’t talk.” Eros said before he could stop himself.  
Andres turned to him. “No. But we can still use him to persuade his fellow prisoners.”  
Eros didn’t say anything in response to that, just crawled to the cage. He wasn’t going to tell Andres that although in most situations, the wellbeing of one crew member would be enough to get answers from the rest, this situation was different. Even if threatened to kill every member but one, the SEALs would give no secrets. The fact that the guards had gotten the name of one of the members was surprising. Even though Daniel had been subjected to a lot of pain, training against interrogation tactics was a large part of becoming a SEAL.  
Right now, Daniel was covered in sweat, and Eros felt that his fever had become stronger. The wounds on his back were darkening along the edges and any skin which had began to cover the still gently bleeding wounds was patchy. When Eros removed the blindfold, he could see that Daniel was awake and appeared surprisingly lucid.  
Eros sat down outside the cage and told him quietly: “I need you to try and quiet down. Okay? I know you are in pain and I wish I could do something to help you, but I can’t.”  
Daniel glared at Eros in response and gave a weak snarl through his gag in response.  
“If not for your own sake, then think of the livelihood of your brothers’ lives around you.” Eros coaxed him.  
Daniel glanced at the forms of the men around him and seemed to relax and turn away from Eros who settled where he was. Daniel looked up through the roof of the cage into the night sky and stayed quiet, short grunts escaping his lips every once in a while as his back convulsed in uncontrollable pain.  
After sitting for a few minutes, the whimpers became louder and Eros decided to talk to Daniel. “I love watching the stars.” He told Daniel quietly.  
Daniel seemed startled at first to hear him talk, then confused.  
“You were looking at them.” Eros explained and Daniel glanced at him before looking up again.  
“My father once told me that the souls of those who love us reside in the stars after they leave this world to join their creators. Together the stars make up constellations, and each constellation is a different powerful spirit which controls parts of earth and bring out different characteristics in a person.”  
Eros looked at Daniel who seemed to be listening to his words before continuing. “The constellations make up the entire sky which is our creator. The creator gains inspiration from the different spirits to make each person. When they leave this world, they rejoin the spirit which they are most similar to and use the powers of that spirit to guide their family and loved ones according to their needs.”  
At this point, Daniel’s grunts of pain had almost disappeared completely and he turned to look at Eros who did his best to smile gently at him. Although Daniel did not return it in the slightest, he did not glare at Eros, and had stopped shaking. After a few seconds Daniel looked away and shifted, trying to get into a position he could sleep in. The other prisoners had begun to do the same after Daniel had quieted down.  
Instead of just leaving Daniel to get his own sleep, Eros sat by the cage and began to quietly hum a Tahitian lullaby. He hoped to soothe Daniel enough so he could get to sleep. Eros repeated a few songs and the men began to fall asleep one by one. About an hour after having been woken up, Eros had quieted Daniel down completely, and all the men, including Daniel had fallen asleep.  
Eros looked to Andres to see if he wanted anything but Andres just nodded at Eros and gestured to where Eros usually slept. Eros complied and fell asleep quickly.  
He woke up a few hours later and laid where he was, listening to the sound of birds squacking in the distance and the prisoners snoring quietly in their sleep. Luckily it seemed Daniel had stayed asleep as Eros did not hear any sounds which were out of place.  
He checked Daniel’s forehead before heading inside, finding that his temperature had stayed about the same. His ear still looked pretty bad from being burned, but he was able to keep it off the bars so it wasn’t aggravated too much.  
Eros made breakfast and brought it to the men outside. He was going to bring the prisoners their food after Nathan had ordered it, but was interrupted by Nico who had finished eating early and pulled out his hard bulging length.  
“Suck it bitch.” He commanded.  
Eros worked his mouth around his length and took it deeper inch by inch. Suddenly Nico trusted hard into Eros’ mouth and he choked, trying to pull away to cough but Nico grabbed the back of his head and held him there.  
Eros began to struggle to get out of Nico’s grip but wasn’t strong enough as Nico just moaned.  
“Fuck yeah take that shit.” He growled before pulling out of Eros’ mouth.  
Eros coughed and tried to take in as much air as possible but was thrown onto his back and adjusted roughly by Nico who squatted over his neck and began fucking Eros’ throat raw.  
Eros felt as though his jaw was going to shatter as he tried to hold his mouth open and fit Nico inside. Nico just continued thrusting right into his throat over and over while holding Eros’ head still.  
His eyes blurred with tears and Eros began to feel light headed until Nico moved his cock from Eros’ throat and he suddenly felt a hot salty liquid pour into his mouth.   
Eros’ lungs took up the sweet air before he gathered the cum in his mouth with his tongue and swallowed it.  
“Good bitch.” Nico praised him. “You can have my plate as a reward for having such a fuckable throat.”  
“Thank you, sir.” Eros managed. His throat felt like it was bleeding and just opening his mouth to talk hurt. His voice was raspy and dry but it didn’t matter.  
Eros got food for the prisoners and repeated the same process as yesterday: Remove the gag and blindfold, put the food in front of them, help them move to eat, and repeat until each prisoner has food. Then one by one he would take the food away, lean them back up, and put the gag and blindfold on.   
Today each prisoner got another cup, one filled with water, next to their food.  
Daniel seemed to be doing better than last night, however leaning forward looked like it had aggravated his back and he flinched sometimes while eating, luckily without making sounds other than quiet gasps.  
While their blindfolds were off, the prisoners would look around at each other and seemed to be communicated secretly to check in with each other while they ate silently. Eyes were on Daniel the most, but the only emotions Eros saw in their eyes were brief flashes.  
Eros ate his food after feeding the prisoners, he chewed as gently as he could but still managed to cause his jaw pain. After eating and cleaning up the rest of breakfast, Eros massaged his jaw carefully while sitting by the water.   
Richard had switched places with Andres after breakfast and fucked Eros on his hands and knees. He tore roughly through newly healed muscle and grunted low with each thrust which caused pain to course up Eros’ backside. Richard’s nails dug into Eros’ jutting hips as he pulled Eros forward and backward into each thrust but luckily his nails did not go anywhere near Eros’ backside which was still stinging.  
Richard came with a loud final roar and rode out his orgasm hard, moving his hands from Eros’ hips and opting for his ass cheeks which he slapped hard. Eros just gritted his teeth and tried to let his high pitched moans come freely while wanting to keep quiet. The prisoners would move their heads around, trying to find the source of the sounds whenever Eros was raped and although he knew it was just a matter of time before they found out what he was, Eros did his best to keep quiet while also pleasing his captors.  
After Richard finished, Eros had a few hours to himself which he spent by the prisoners in order to keep an eye on Daniel. Every once in a while, Eros would hum a song quietly, making sure to not let Richard hear him. There was no need to piss off the huge man any more than he had without trying.  
Lunch passed uneventfully, Eros gave the prisoners more food and water and Andres gave Eros some food and a generous amount of water to soothe his aching throat. When lunch was over, Andres let Eros stay by the prisoners and did not say anything when Eros hummed songs and wiped Daniel’s forehead dry of sweat.  
Eventually, dinner came and Eros gave the prisoners more food and water, but before he moved to clean up the dishes and put the blindfolds and gags back on the prisoners, Liam interjected.  
“We are going to give these boys a treat and let them watch tonight’s game.”  
Eros’ heart dropped at that. He didn’t know exactly what kind of game he would be playing tonight but he knew that he wished only the guards would watch him be humiliated. He hadn’t played one of Liam and Nico’s so-called “games” in a while and was not looking forward to it at all.  
But instead of complaining, Eros simply said “Yes sir.” He replaced the gags but kept the blindfolds off the men and moved the men on the side closest to the shack so that they would be facing the deck instead of the water.  
After Eros exited the cage, Liam placed a blindfold over his eyes and explained the game.  
“All you need to do is catch each ball I roll before it reaches the water. There are eleven balls and each has a different number each of us have chosen. If the ball goes into the water, the man corresponding to each ball can punish you however they see fit.”  
Eros heard as all the guards stood up and moved their chairs to the side of the deck by the shack wall as they spoke to each other and told the others what they wanted to do to Eros.  
“I’m going to leave him in the water tied to the deck overnight.”  
“I’m gonna burn the bitch’s feet so he ain’t gonna be able to walk nowhere.”  
“A nice long fuck is all I want right now.”  
“I’m going to paddle his ass until it’s nice and red.”  
“Wonder what he’d look like with a cock piercing.”  
Eros didn’t like the sound of any of those so he knew he’d have to give this his all to avoid the worst of it. Any of these things could already be done to Eros without his decision but the men wouldn’t have enough time for every punishment that came to mind so he hoped they would honor the rules.  
The first ball was thrown without any warning and Eros scrambled towards the sound of it. Instead of trying to simply grab it, he jumped forward as far as he could and was relieved to feel a fist-sized ball under his chest. He picked up the ball and brought it to Liam.  
“Too bad Richard, I would have loved to see his tiny cock stuck with a needle.” Liam laughed to Richard.  
“Ah shit. Next time princess, I’ll put some nice gold hoops through you.” Was Richard’s only response.  
Eros said nothing in return and waited for the next ball. It was rolled far to Eros’ right and he jumped forward trying to catch it. Without warning, he slammed hard into the bars of the prisoners’ cage. The guards roared with laughter and Eros put his hand up to feel wetness on his face. His cheekbone had taken most of the force and was split open a little.  
He felt around with his hands and was about to give up after not finding the ball when one of the prisoners grunted. Eros put his hand slowly through the bars and found the ball sitting between the feet of one of the prisoners. He gave the unknown man a grateful smile and returned the ball to Liam.  
The next ball was rolled and Eros tried to catch it but felt as is slipped through his fingertips and into the water with a quiet “sploosh.”  
Liam rolled eight more balls and Eros managed to catch all of them but two, making for a total of three punishments.  
First Ian spanked his ass hard thirty times with a cold paddle. By the end, Eros’ cheeks throbbed and he felt as if someone had made him sit on burning coals. He felt as if he could never sit again and crawling around only made it worse.  
Next, Nathan put an electric collar around Eros’ neck and shocked him while he fucked his ass. Only stopping the electricity when Eros’s breathing had almost ceased, although he fucked him the whole time.  
The final man was Andres. He had surprisingly never anally penetrated Eros and the other guards used this as an opportunity to nag him into doing it. Eros rode Andres and could easily say that Andres was the most well-endowed of all the guards. Despite the size, it wasn’t horribly painful as Andres didn’t thrust into him roughly, scratch or pull at him, choke him, or force him to move before he felt ready. In fact, Eros felt as though Andres' fingers weren’t even on his hips.  
When the game and punishment was finally over, Eros was forced to suck a few more cocks which had enjoyed the show before his blindfold was taken off by Andres.  
There was no pity or shame in his eyes for what he had done to Eros, but that was not surprising, those expressions had become foreign to Eros.  
The prisoners, on the other hand, appeared to have expressions of varying degrees of horror. One guard had eyes which almost looked as if they were watering but most brows were furrowed in disgust. Eros felt shame coil down in his stomach as he put the blindfolds back on each prisoner.  
He wasn’t allowed to clean the cum off his face and refused to look the prisoners in the eye. He felt Daniel for a fever and was relieved to feel that it had cooled slightly, but he didn’t want to see the disgust in his eyes, so Eros didn’t do anything else.  
Once the blindfolds were back on, Eros felt slightly more comfortable. At least he couldn’t feel their eyes boring into him. Eros felt dirtier than he had in a long time, he knew that he would never get the opportunity to clean himself, but if he did, it still wouldn’t make him feel clean again. He felt ashamed to have touched the men at all while putting on their blindfolds. They probably also just saw him for the slut he was.  
Eros pulled himself out of his thoughts as Richard spoke to him.  
“Same rules tonight princess. Not. A. Peep.”  
“Yes, sir.”  
Eros pushed his shame down enough to sing quietly to the prisoners. Daniel was actually one of the first to fall asleep this time, but Eros decided to keep going until the other guards were able to fall asleep as well.  
Finally, Eros pulled his bruised, cut, and throbbing body to the corner of the deck and wept for the first time in a long time. The big salty tears burned his cuts, especially the one on his cheek but he did his best to cry silently.   
He hadn’t felt this much despair since his first year here and vowed to the still-unfamiliar constellations above that somehow he was going to make it out of here, off the island.


	8. Chapter 8

Luckily the prisoners had stayed quiet throughout the night and Daniel’s fever had almost cooled completely when Eros checked it in the morning.  
Breakfast went as smooth as it could have and Andres even gave Eros some of his meal. Eros had gotten more food in the last two days than he normally did and he ate the food gratefully, knowing that the replacement guards likely wouldn’t feed him as much.  
As the guards filed out one by one, Nico and Dylan were left behind. Although Nico was awful when he was with Liam, around others he resorted to simple pleasure from Eros which did not rely upon humiliation.   
Dylan was the most serious of all the guards as well as the most boring in every way. He spoke in a monotone voice and showed little to no emotion at all times, unless his twin was around, then his default emotion became annoyance. He never joked around and would only talk business and work with Regan until not even Regan could handle him, then he would talk to Nathan. He was impatient and followed rules to the tee which meant no flexibility in Eros’ actions but it also meant that if Nico and Liam tried to harass Eros while he was working on something else, Dylan would likely stop it.  
Dylan watched Eros while he was on the deck without taking his eyes off him at all. Eros never misbehaved and had no plans on doing so but the feeling of having eyes digging into the back of his skull constantly still made him too nervous to try and relax.  
Time seemed to drag on and Eros hoped for the time to cook lunch to come faster but instead, Nathan and Richard interrupted the normal schedule and came onto the deck a few hours earlier. Eros watched them cautiously in confusion, hoping that whatever brought them here had nothing to do with him.  
Luckily their focus was not on him, but rather the prisoners. The doors were unlocked for them and Richard uncuffed two men from the deck and drug them outside the cage. The men who were still blindfolded and gagged scrambled to try and get to their feet but Richard just threw both of them onto the deck hard and proceeded to bind the two men’s legs to one another’s while both were lying on their stomachs.  
“Now that we have given you enough time to process the situation you are in, it’s time to give us some answers. This time however, we won’t stop just when we learn your name.” Nathan told the men.  
Richard crouched and took off the men’s gags and blindfolds before standing and handing Nathan what looked like nothing more than a length of rope.  
Nathan took the rope and kneeled down to the man on the left doing something with the rope that Eros couldn’t see as Nathan’s back was blocking his sight.  
“We will start with a simple question: Does the U.S. know who we are?” Nathan asked the men.  
The men didn’t even react to Nathan, Richard smirked at this and knelt next to the man on the right, grabbing him by his jaw and roughly turning his head to face Richard.  
“Sweetheart you have no idea what you are in for, it’ll be better for you and your men if you answer the questions. We won’t have to torture you if you are honest.”  
Eros’ eyes narrowed at this. Although he wanted the men to answer the questions to spare them from being tortured, he knew from experience that complete honesty and obedience never resulted in the complete halt of pain. He crawled quietly to his right in order to get a better view of Nathan’s victim who now had the piece of rope wrapped tightly around his throat.  
Nathan pulled the rope tighter until the man began to squirm, struggling to get air in his lungs. To his credit, the man kept his eyes forward and the only sounds were quiet suppressed grunts. Nathan held the rope for about fifteen seconds before loosening it. The man gasped in the air desperately and coughed.  
“Well then?” Nathan asked. Still no response.  
The rope was taken off the first man’s neck and switched to the neck of the second man who gave no response to Nathan’s question either. After several rounds of suffocation for both men without any sign of giving in, Richard was getting impatient. He gave each man a hard kick to the backs of their skulls and glared at them. The prisoners remained partially stoic, but Eros could have sworn he saw a bit of smugness in their eyes.  
Nathan just glanced at him. “Go see if Nico wants to join us.” He ordered him calmly.  
Richard paused at that, then smirked up at Nathan.  
Despite Nico being less awful when Liam wasn’t around, he still had cruel ideas. He just tended to initiate them less him someone wasn’t there to push his ideas into the open. When he walked onto the deck and saw the two prisoners tied together on their stomachs, Nico looked like a kid who had just received a puppy. Within seconds he had an idea and went back into the shack to gather the needed supplies.  
He came back with nothing more than a longer piece of rope that was a bit thicker.  
“Each of you need to go in front of a prisoner and make sure they don’t move to the side, they can only move forward and backward.” Nico explained to Richard and Nathan who did as Nico said.  
Nico took the rope and tied one end around the throat of the prisoner on the left, then pulled the rope to the other prisoner and tied it around his throat, leaving just enough space between the two prisoners that their heads were pulled back as they choked.  
Eros was confused, all it looked like to him was that Nico was choking the two men at the same time but as he watched the men become more flustered and trying to breathe, the man on the right jerked his head forward far enough forward that his chin was back on the deck and he breathed in a few ragged breaths. This made the man on the left become choked further and he desperately pushed himself forward, trying to gain the same reprise from the burning in his lungs. After a struggle he was able to get his head down and take in a few shallow breaths, however the man on the right was stronger and pulled him back up quickly.  
Eros watched in dismay as the two men fought each other for air. Whatever had bought the men together for this mission had been forgotten as each man struggled for their own life. Had Nathan and Richard not been holding the men’s sides as they were, they could have simply rotated their bodies until they were parallel which would allow them both to breathe. The short length ensured only one could breathe at a time.  
As time went on, the man on the left became weaker and was unable to get any air, his body convulsed before he gave in to the strong pulling from the rope. This gave the man on the right enough time to get the air needed to think clearly as he was met with no resistance for his air. He turned his head to look behind him and pushed his head off the ground, letting the other man’s head fall to the deck so he could breathe.  
To Eros’ horror, the man did not move.  
“Fuck! C’mon Dominguez, just breathe god dammit!” The man on the right yelled out. He tried to jostle the man awake with his feet but it did nothing.  
Dominguez’s eyes were bulging out of his face with tears pouring from them, staring ahead unseeingly. His whole face seemed void of color and his chest had stopped heaving desperately for air.  
“NO! Just let him breathe!” The other prisoner screamed out. The other prisoners in the cage had been listening to the torture outside intently and sat stiffly, tring to make out what was happening.  
The prisoner tied up to the now dead Dominguez was released by Richard and the rope was untied from his neck by Nico. He used his bodyweight to try and roll to Dominguez desperately but Richard held him back. The man let out a ferocious yell and bit down hard on Richard’s hand.  
Richard released him and backhanded him hard across the face before untying his shackles from Dominguez’. When he could, the man pressed himself to Dominguez and flipped him onto his back. He began to press down on his chest desperately and breathed into his mouth every thirty presses or so, his own breaths becoming more ragged as time went on. Nathan and Richard watched for about five minutes before Richard pulled the man away from Dominguez's body. The man thrashed but in his hysteria he could do nothing against Richard.  
“Does the U.S. know who we are? Yes. Or. No.” Nathan asked darkly.  
The man sat silently before glaring up at Nathan. “Not that we were told.” He muttered.  
The other prisoners let out groans and grunts of warning from their cage but couldn’t do anything else.  
“See. That’s all you needed to say and your friend wouldn’t be dead.” Nathan told him cruelly.  
The man just shivered before his gaze suddenly hardened and he stopped.  
“Nah. You would’ve killed him anyways. I ain’t gonna play this game.”  
Nathan narrowed his eyes and looked at the man in front of him. He had almost broken him in one move by killing his friend. Getting a single answer out of one of these men had been difficult but he saw the resolution in the man’s eyes and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get another from him. Still he could be useful to serve as a lesson to the others.  
“Next question. How did you find these islands?” Nathan asked.  
The man said nothing so Nathan turned to the cage. “Would anyone else like to help out your friend here and answer the question before he dies as well?”  
Eros felt nauseous and wanted to stop what was happening but he knew he had no power to do anything against it so he stayed silent, hoping one of the prisoners would say something. Even just lie about it, anything to save the life of this man.  
However, no one said anything and the man just looked up at Nathan with a solemn acceptance in his eyes. “One day God 's gonna make you suffer for what you just did tenfold. He’s gonna make you live through e’rything you’ve done and are gonna do to others.”  
Nathan met his gaze levelly. “Your God isn’t on these islands.” With that, he took a knife from the holster around his hips and slit the man’s throat in one motion. His body fell to the ground as blood spurted from his throat and coated the deck.  
“I’m the closest being to a god here. But I am more akin to the devil himself”


	9. Chapter 9

Eros was forced to take care of the bodies. Nathan and Richard left after talking briefly with Dylan and Nico but were too quiet for Eros to catch their words. He had to drag the bodies to the edge of the deck and push them into the water. He looked down and shuddered at the sight of blood on his hands and crawled to the opposite side of the deck to wash them in the dirty water. He scrubbed the blood off and then continued to harshly rub his skin until it was raw.  
When he pushed the Dominguez’ body into the water, his eyes had opened and seemed to stare into Eros’ soul. Of course he was dead and couldn’t have, but Eros had a feeling the souls of the two men were going to be up in the sky and cursing him for doing nothing to help them. The guilt weighed heavy in Eros’ stomach and he felt something come up his throat, only to vomit off the edge of the deck.  
“What, can’t handle a bit of blood?” Nico asked from where he sat on the deck, smirking at Eros’ hunched and shaking form.  
Eros took a deep shuddering breath and turned to Nico. “Apologies Sir.” He replied quietly.  
“We still have twelve more prisoners, you’d better get used to the sight and feeling of blood because Liam and I have plenty more ideas on how to have fun with them.”  
Eros just stared at the deck. “Yes Sir.”  
When it came to the time he had to feed the prisoners, Eros was struggling to keep himself together. When he lifted the blindfold off Daniel’s face, he saw his eyes move to where Dominguez and the other man had sat before they darkened and he looked back to Eros. There was no hate in his eyes, which greatly surprised Eros, instead there was just a blank look with sadness hidden deep within. Each prisoner had a similar reaction and by the time Eros had given everyone their food, he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes.  
“You aren’t with them.” Eros looked at Daniel in confusion.  
“You wouldn’t be crying for Dominguez and Abara if you were on the side of the bastards who killed them.” He explained.  
Eros lowered his gaze and tried to stop the tears which he had managed to keep at bay. Suddenly his face burned and his sorrow burst from him.  
“I’m so sorry.” Eros cried out, trying to stay quiet enough so the guards wouldn’t hear him. “I wish I could have done something to save them. The tears rolled freely down his cheeks now and he realized that this was the first time in years he was crying for anyone besides himself.  
Daniel kept his composure and said nothing, but Eros could have sworn he saw something flash through his eyes briefly. Eros leaned forward and instead of putting Daniel’s blindfold or gag back on, he whispered to Daniel. “Please just tell them what they want or they will kill all of you.”  
Daniel’s face contorted in disgust and he glared at Eros. “We are not cowards, we will die before we work with our captors.”  
Eros didn’t reply. He didn’t know how he could explain the kind of power the guards had and why it was no use fighting. They were just too powerful and cruel for anyone to beat them. He wished he felt the same way Daniel did but he couldn’t muster up the same courage.  
Instead he followed his orders to gag and blindfold the prisoners and left the cage.  
Between lunch and dinner, Nathan and Richard returned and took another man from the cage.  
“How did you find these islands?” Nathan asked the same question he had asked Abara before killing him.  
This man did not reply either so Nathan nodded to Richard who grabbed the man’s hand. He pulled out a pair of scissors and closed them around the man’s left pinky. He slowly applied pressure as the man squirmed and then shouted, trying to jerk his hand away as the blades tore through his skin. When the scissors got down to bone, Richard gave them a rough jerk and Eros heard a snap as the man’s finger was disconnected completely from his body as he screamed.  
“Now I’m only going to ask you nine more times. How did you find these islands?”  
Despite the groans, the man gave no answer. Richard used the scissors and began cutting off the man’s fingers one by one. Eventually the scissors were coated in so much blood that they were hard to grip, same with the man’s hands. Richard dragged him to the edge of the deck and forced him to kneel by the water.  
“Clean yourself off.” He ordered.  
The man slowly lowered his hands into the water and groaned as the salty water made contact with the stumps where his fingers once were. He began to wash his hands shakily, trying his best to withhold sounds of the agony that shot through his hands.  
Suddenly the man jerked back and headbutted Richard hard before jumping off the deck. Richard grabbed onto his chained arms behind his back but the man managed to swing his leg around and got Richard hard in the calves. It was just enough to unbalance Richard and instead of keeping his hold and falling into the water, he let go of the man who fell under the water with a splash. Dylan was the one to go after the man. He jumped into the water and Eros didn’t see him or the prisoner for several seconds before both emerged.  
The prisoner had managed to get his arms from being shackled behind him, to being shackled in front of him. The two men grabbed at each other’s throats, scrambling for a grip. Nathan went into the shack and came back out quickly with a dart gun which he was loading. He aimed the gun at the back of the prisoner but was unable to take a shot without the risk of hitting Dylan. Suddenly Dylan slugged the other man hard in the face, this stunned the man long enough for Dylan to duck under the water and push the prisoner’s up far enough for Nathan to dart him in the shoulder. The man groaned and immediately began pushing at Dylan again but it only took a minute or so before he had weakened enough for the other guards to drag him out of the water without resistance.  
“Looks like you get to keep your last three fingers.” Nathan muttered to him before Richard returned him to the cage.  
Eros was glad that at least this man had survived his torture but didn’t know how long the guards expected the prisoners to last at this rate. If they planned on killing two a day then they wouldn’t be able to learn a lot from them. He wished they would just comply.  
Eros was ordered to pick up the fingers and put them in a container which the guards kept by the prisoner’s cage. He didn’t want to even imagine what they planned on doing with them.  
After Nathan and Richard were done, they didn’t leave. Instead they went inside the shack and took the two guards on watch out the front door where Eros could hear them talking, but couldn’t make out any words. Whatever they were talking about, it would likely just bring more pain to Eros or the other prisoners.  
Eros hadn’t thought of himself as a prisoner in a long time. He had always avoided thinking about his place on this island in order to keep his sanity along with his body parts. It had taken fourteen more prisoners on the island to make him even think about it, the other two SEALs had died before they could even become prisoners. He had never been happy here, no, but he lost his fight long ago. Did that still make him a prisoner? He wanted to consider himself one, something which seemed strange even to himself, however he was nothing like the others here. Eros listened to orders and never complained. He served the men who raped him and killed others. Nothing was right about the situation.  
Eros watched the prisoners until it was time to make dinner. Once he finished, he tried heading outside but was stopped by Dylan. “You are to wait inside.” He told Eros.  
Eros was confused as this had never happened but his confusion was quickly replaced with apprehension as he wondered what horrors this night would entail. The entertainment had never required much preparation and this must have meant something big.  
Dylan watched Eros from the archway leading to the deck and said nothing while Eros tried to make himself busy with cleaning to distract himself. He tried to listen for anything that would clue him into what was outside but he couldn’t hear anything.  
A few minutes later, Nico called to Dylan from the deck and Dylan left his place to go to the computer room, telling Eros he could go serve the men their dinner now. Eros stared after him in confusion and then picked up the food, taking a deep breath, he left the shack, trying to prepare himself to see the worst on the deck.  
He walked outside and looked around, his eyes searching the place rapidly. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. The guards weren’t even paying attention to him, Nico was just chatting with Liam and Kyle while standing next to the cage. Richard was telling a story to Regan, Tarence, and Dallas while Nathan watched with Andres, and Ian.  
Eros was suspicious but did his best to hide it as he passed out food to the guards and sucked them off one by one.  
Finally the guards were finished and Nathan stood up. “Tonight we are doing something a little different.”  
Eros looked at him nervously, wondering what they could be hiding out here.  
“Because we had a prisoner try to escape, as futile as that is, we are going to be putting all of our prisoners together from now on during the night.” Nathan looked pointedly at Eros. “Now.”  
Eros was startled but followed the order, crawling after Richard who led him to the cage and before he pushed him inside he leaned in and whispered to him.  
“Talk to them. Learn as much as you can from them and we will consider giving you special privileges. Think food, water, a bed, and maybe even clothes.” With that, he pushed Eros into the compartment with the prisoners and ordered Eros loud enough for everyone to hear “Take off their blindfolds and remove their gags.”  
Eros crawled in and did as he was ordered while the doors were closed and locked behind him. The prisoners looked at one another but said nothing until the guards were gone. Neither Dylan nor Nico were even on the deck.  
“What the hell are they planning?” One man asked suspiciously to no one in particular.  
“I do not know, Sir.” Eros told him. It was the partial truth. “They sometimes put me in here when they don’t want to use guards to keep watch.” That was a complete lie. Eros hadn’t been in here for a whole night in a very long time.  
The man just eyed him suspiciously. “If you aren’t with them, why aren’t you chained up like us?”  
“I haven’t been in a position to make them believe I am a threat.” Eros told him truthfully. “I was chained up in this cage when I was first here.”  
“And how long ago was that?”  
“Years.”  
There was a pause at this before the man looked around at the men. “I don’t suppose you will be any help in getting my men out of here will you?” He asked.  
Eros hesitated, he wanted to say that ‘of course he would’ but it wasn’t easy to even say words which could get him hurt. Even if the guards weren’t out here, it would get him hurt. Instead he responded: “I will do my best to take care of you and your men.”  
Already Eros had important information, this man seemed to be the leader of the other prisoners. Part of him wanted nothing more than to call out to the guards and tell them what he knew so he could get out of this awful cage. The other part of him cared not for his own well being, but for that of the prisoners. Looking at the injuries already sustained and thinking of the men whose lives were already taken from them Eros decided to keep quiet.  
The man stared intently at Eros several more seconds before his gaze softened slightly. “Why don’t you wear clothes?”  
“The guards do not wish for me to have them.”  
“Why don’t you try to escape?”  
“I have several times. All ended in failure.”  
“What do the men do on this island?”  
“Until your arrival I thought these guards were the only people on the island. I still don’t know what they do.”  
“How did you get here?”  
Eros hesitated before responding. “I was in a helicopter that was shot down.” He lied. He didn’t want him to know that he had actually been in the military, he knew that it would make the shame just eat at him more.  
“What happened to the pilot and other passengers?” The man demanded.  
“I don’t know. I never saw them.” Eros told him.  
The man looked thoughtfully at Eros for a few seconds before saying more.  
“Do you even want to escape anymore?” He asked quietly.  
“More than anything.” Eros responded without thinking. He flinched and looked at the shack, expecting a guard to come out and beat him for saying such a thing. However, no one did.  
The conversation ended there and Eros crawled over to Daniel.  
“How are you feeling now?” He asked him, gently placing his hand to his forehead to feel that his temperature was almost back to normal.  
“Fine.” Daniel told him shortly.  
Eros looked down, not knowing what else to say. He hadn’t had a normal conversation in years, he forgot how it was supposed to work. The only interactions he had ended with him being beaten or fucked and he was expected to do very little talking, and only when ordered.  
“I’m glad.” Eros managed, catching the weird look Daniel gave him before he turned to the man who had his fingers cut off.  
“I’m going to rip your shirt and use it as a bandage, is that okay with you?” Eros asked gently.  
“The man gave him a curt nod and leaned forward so Eros could tear off a part of his shirt. He wrapped it tight around the man’s hands despite the groans of pain the man gave. He apologized before moving back to Daniel who was looking at the sky through the bars of the cage on the roof.  
“They are watching over you from the sky now.” Eros told him.  
“Who?’  
“Dominguez and Abara. And the other two men”  
“Hmmm. I’ve never believed in anything regarding an afterlife. I doubt Harrison or Porter are up there.” Daniel murmured.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Why?” Daniel looked from the sky to Eros.  
“Well I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t know I have my family watching over me.” Eros admitted.  
“Oh. I thought you telling us all of that stuff about the sky was just a dream.” Daniel told Eros honestly.  
“I can tell you more about it if you are interested.” Daniel didn’t say anything but Eros didn’t see any negative emotion in his expression so he continued. “I usually think of the stories the stars tell us in order to take my focus off of my pain, or to give me hope and comfort me.”  
Daniel still didn’t say anything, so Eros took that as an okay.  
“Above us is the constellation of Akua Wahine. She is the most powerful of all the other spirits. She protects her people from harm, specifically from people who intend to harm someone before truly knowing who that person is. She takes great offense to such a crime and although the spirits are not supposed to have power over whose soul goes where after they die, she curses all who commit this crime to stay stuck in the night sky without any constellation to reside in.”  
“To have one’s soul find a place beside her is of the greatest honor, one become a guide and in some cases, can return to earth to help those in their family which are most in need.” None of this was actually true, but Eros told the story nonetheless, the prisoners seemed to find a small calm in the story as their whispering stopped and many looked up through the roof.  
“Those four stars in a line are her.” Eros pointed at them. “That patch of star to the right of her is a powerful rune for protection. When a family needs guidance, they pray to her and place the rune above their home so she can send their ancestors to help them.”  
None of the men would admit to enjoying the story or finding a modicum of comfort in it. Not that it truly provided any of those things for them. Mostly it was just a distraction, thinking of a place other than where they were, that didn’t necessarily make them ache to be home.  
Eros talked about this made up spirit until he couldn’t think of anything else to say and he turned to singing. He sang the lullabies he knew, and when the men began to fall asleep, he hummed instead.  
The anxiety he felt from being back in the cage he had fought so long to get out of dissipated as he realized he felt safer in here with the prisoners, than outside. Although his view of the sky was obstructed, the walls of the cage gave Eros a false sense of protection from the guards.  
Realistically he knew they could burst in at any moment and use him however they wished, but he kept that thought from his mind as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, Eros was allowed to leave the cage by Dylan and he cooked breakfast as normal. After serving breakfast for the guards, Eros was ordered to feed the prisoners, however Nathan wanted them to eat something a little different this morning.  
Eros was handed a small container and he gagged after looking inside of it, glancing at Nathan to be sure that this was what he wanted. He couldn’t tell what was worse: the sight or the smell. Both disgusted him and he couldn’t even imagine eating this.  
He entered the cage and as there was no need to remove the blindfolds or gags, he immediately began passing out what the guards wanted them to eat today. The feeling of picking up the cold bloody fingers from the prisoner who had lost them yesterday gave Eros shudders. It reminded him of the look on Dominguez’ face when Eros pushed his body into the water. It was unnatural and disturbing.  
The expressions on the prisoner’s faces demonstrated similar feelings to Eros’. Daniel’s eyes widened and the man whose fingers were being served shuddered. Eros only had the seven fingers to pass out so he looked out of the cage to Nathan to see if there were further instructions.  
“I doubt your meal looks very appetizing, no matter how deprived you are.” Nathan told the prisoners. “However I can assure each and every one of you that you will want to eat it as each finger represents a possible two dishes of food that you can get for your meals. If you eat all seven, you will get fourteen dishes of food for each meal. You have ten minutes to eat them.”  
Eros looked down at the men around him. None of them were moving to eat the fingers, not that he was surprised. However, Eros wanted to do whatever he could to help the men so he picked up the finger in front of Daniel and closed his eyes. He brought the finger to his mouth then slowly closed his own mouth. The second it touched his tongue he gagged hard and almost threw up, however he managed to keep it down. He tried to disconnect himself from his body as he began to try and chew it.  
The taste of rotting flesh was something Eros had never thought he would taste in his life. There were no words to accurately describe the disgusting sensation of having dead flesh in his mouth. It was salty and irony but tasted like the smell of perished food. Eros chewed the flesh around the bone as fast as he could and swallowed, shuddering at the sensation as it went down his throat slower than he would have liked. Chills coarsed down his spine and Eros had to take deep breaths to calm himself before he threw up.  
The other prisoners were still looking at the fingers without touching them. “Please, I know it’s horrible but we all need to do it or else we will have to find a way to survive off six bowls of rice a day for everyone.”  
“Oh it’s ‘we’ now already princess?” Richard laughed from outside the cage where the other guards were grinning from the disgust on the prisoner’s faces.  
“Please.” Eros begged, turning back to the prisoners and trying to look at them in their eyes. “We can do it. We need to do it.”  
The leader of the group finally grabbed one and lifted it to his own mouth. At this, the others began to follow as well. Watching others do as Eros just did was almost as awful. He was surrounded with the sound of people chewing on flesh and he saw bits of flesh and blood dribbling from the prisoner’s mouths as they worked against time.  
Eros took a part of a finger after one of the men began to gag too hard to continue and right as he spit out the bone, he heard Nathan call “Time.”  
Eros let out a small sigh of relief.  
“Looks like they got all seven of them.” Nathan announced to the guards after peering in. “Starting at lunch you will get fourteen dishes.”  
None of the prisoners looked relieved at all, in fact at the mere mention of food, many of the prisoners gagged, but Eros knew they would be glad later.  
New guards replaced Dylan and Nico after breakfast, Kyle and Liam. Probably one of the most awful pairs, not because they were more cruel than Richard or liked humiliation more than Regan, but because they were obnoxious. They were loud and annoying, although Liam would come up with cruel games with Nico, when he was with Kyle, the most cruel thing they did was never shut up.  
The rest of the day Eros spent talking with the prisoners the best he could. They didn’t trust him, that was for sure. Most of the talking consisted of them asking questions which he did his best to answer. Rarely would he ask a question, and even more rarely was it answered.  
A few weeks past with the same routine of sleeping with the prisoners, then going about his normal tasks outside during the day and Eros watched as the prisoners began losing weight rapidly and becoming more antsy to escape. Luckily the guards hadn’t killed anymore of the prisoners. They kept coming to Eros every few days and asking what he had learned but he would either say that he hadn’t learned anything, or would come up with lies to satiate them.  
Daniel’s fever had gone away weeks ago but his wounds remained and had yet to heal although Eros had received more lashes but was almost healed. The man who lost fingers whose name Eros learned was Thabo Issa had survived the constant blood loss and by some miracle had not gotten infected, but was still weak.  
As time went on, each man told Eros his name, whispering it in his ear at different points. He wasn’t sure why they did, they still didn’t trust him completely, they told him the only reason they did was because it made it easier to talk but he found it endearing nonetheless. They wanted to know his name as payment for telling him theirs, but Eros refused to. The leader’s name was Devin, Eros hadn’t been given a last name.  
One night after singing the rest of the men to sleep, which had become pattern for everyone, Eros saw that Devin was still awake.  
“You can’t sleep?” Eros asked him.  
“I’m wondering who is going to die next.” He admitted somberly.  
Eros looked at the faces of the men around him. Faces that had become familiar, as had parts of their stories. They never told Eros things about their mission or career, just things about their family, childhood, or hopes for the future. Eros felt the familiar burning of the shame he had tried to coil down inside him as it expanded in order to escape. These men weren’t his friends or family, but they had slowly lost their hatred for him and it had turned into something almost positive. They were all in the same position, trapped in the hands of merciless guards, and did their best to help each other. And Eros had repaid them by lying to them about why he was allowed in the cage.  
“I’m sorry.” He blurted out before he could stop himself.  
Devin looked at him strangely. “What for?”  
Eros gulped nervously and avoided looking at Devin.  
“What are you sorry for?” Devin asked more firmly, eyes narrowing.  
“I’m a bad person.” Eros told him.  
Devin’s gaze softened slightly at that. “Kid, I might not know your past, or even your name, but I can assure you that you are not a bad person.”  
Eros still couldn’t manage to look at him, he felt as if he needed to tell Devin the truth though.  
“The guards put me in here to spy on you.” He admitted very quietly. He was too scared to look into Devin’s eyes but when he didn’t respond, he looked up.  
“What did you tell them?” Devin asked evenly, although Eros could see the anger in his face as it flashed through his eyes and his brows narrowed.  
“Nothing important. I swear!” Eros added at Devin’s disbelieving stare. “I mostly just lied to them. I said that Abara was the leader of your men and that none of you knew what your mission was other than to gather intel on the island. You had no idea people were here, you had just received a distress signal from the place years ago which had finally matched a place the military was interested in.” Eros spoke fast and did his best to convince Devin who just stared thoughtfully at Eros.  
“You don’t have any proof.” He told him simply, and Eros’ gaze fell.  
Devin turned away from him and the conversation ended there. It hurt Eros more than he expected, getting the weight off his shoulders had been a great feeling which was just replaced with the all-too familiar sensation of the shame which got heavier every day. He had known that Devin would learn the truth at some point, he just had held on to a childish hope that Devin would believe him.  
Eros gave Devin the space he needed and slept next to Daniel instead, forcing himself to not cry and doing his best to not make any sound.  
Eros had a nightmare when he was finally able to fall asleep. He found himself watching as Devin strangled him in his sleep. His body convulsed weakly until his heart stopped and after a few minutes, he saw his soul leave his body. Eros joined his soul and began travelling up into the sky to finally join his ancestors when a sensation fell over him.  
He felt as though cold water was trickling down his back and he could have sworn he heard someone gasping in his ear behind him but his head was frozen in place so he couldn’t turn to see. The coldness spread throughout his body and intensified as he got closer to the constellations above.  
When he got to the top he was expecting to be greeted by his loving ancestors and guided to his final resting pace, however, he was instead greeted by the made up Akua Wahine. He didn’t know how he knew this was her. Instead of a beautiful spirit with dark skin and curly black hair, her skin was gray and rotting. Her smile was crooked and Eros watched in horror has her face slowly contorted to that of Dominguez’ face and her mouth opened, but her voice sounded like a demented version of Devin’s.  
“You betrayed them.” It said to Eros.  
“No! I-I was trying to help th-”  
“You have no proof.” It interrupted him.  
“No please, just-”  
“You are banished to wander the sky alone forever. You killed us before you knew us.” It’s body contorted until it was a split between the body of Dominguez, and the body of Abara.  
“You are banished.” It repeated. Eros fell to his knees in the darkness and lifted his hands to his face to beg.  
“Please! I only meant to-”  
“BANISHED!” The creature writhed as it shrieked and Eros felt himself falling, but instead of falling back to earth, he just fell through the sky for what felt like an eternity until he felt himself hit the deck.  
Eros jolted awake with a pathetic yelp and scrambled to the corner of the cage. His heart was fast and it took a few minutes for him to recognize his surroundings and see that he was safe.  
Well, not safe. But alive.  
Eros did not even try to fall back to sleep and was glad to leave the cage a few hours later to make breakfast. The current guard was Tarence, whose arm was almost completely healed from the attack almost a month ago. Nathan only wanted one guard to keep watch now that Eros was in the cage with the other prisoners.  
Torture was a common occurrence after breakfast so Eros wasn’t surprised when Nathan ordered Richard and Andres to get two men from the cage. They grabbed Daniel and another man, Alexander and brought them onto the deck.  
“Well we thought we would learn more interesting information from our little slave here but turns out he’s even more of a useless little slut than we thought.” Richard growled.  
“Since it turns out we already killed your first in command, I want to know who is the second in command.”  
Eros saw Devin move from the corner of his eye and looked out him. He looked almost emotionless, however the same look in his eyes that he had before Eros had told him his secret had returned and it made Eros’ heart flutter so he gave Devin a small secret smile.  
“Y’all dumbasses don’t even know why y’all are here, so that makes you virtually useless.”  
Eros’ smile fell and he watched nervously as Richard began paddling both men hard on the ass. This was much more tame than usual but hopefully it meant that Richard had no plans on killing the prisoners even if he considered them virtually useless.  
No surprise, the prisoners told them nothing and were returned to the cage after a frustrated Richard left through the shack. Tarence stayed in the computer room throughout most of the day, only coming out every once in a while to look at Eros and to eat his meals. At the end of the day and after the nightly entertainment which left Eros’ hips feeling as though they were shattered, Eros laid down on the deck in exhaustion.  
“So you aren’t a liar.” Devin said matter-of-factly. Eros turned his head to him and opened his mouth but Devin interrupted.  
“At least you aren’t a liar when it comes to what you told me.”  
Eros gave him a faint smile and closed his eyes, feeling as though he still had three cocks in his abused asshole which prevented him from being more happy.  
“I know I didn’t have proof, but I’m glad you know now. “  
The two sat in silence for an hour or so and listened to the sounds of the gentle waves and singing birds before Devin looked back into the cage and appeared to be considering something for a while.  
Devin looked at the men around him who were chatting quietly before looking back to Eros.  
“Do you want to know what we are doing here?” He asked Eros carefully.  
Eros immediately sat up and looked around nervously, the anxiety which had been forgotten temporarily by the calm day returned. “Are you sure you should tell me?”  
“I doubt even if the guards knew what our mission is that it would mean anything to them.” Devin admitted. “But I still will keep it from them if it kills me.”  
Eros licked his chapped lips and scooted closer to Devin who leaned into him and whispered in his ear.  
“We are here to find several soldiers who disappeared years ago near here.”  
Eros’ eyes widened. “Who?” He asked.  
“Their names are Anya Warlick, Derik Harris, Bobo Chidi, Joseph Jamestown, Iman Uzebeko, and Eros Vaea.”


	10. Chapter 10

Eros froze at Devin’s words.  
They were looking for him?  
This whole time Eros had just assumed he had been forgotten. He spent the first few months of captivity waiting for someone, anyone, to come to the island and save him from this hell. Often he thought of the soldiers he came to this island with and wondered what happened to them. After weeks of begging his captors to tell him anything about them and receiving nothing but extra torture, Eros assumed they had killed all five of them.  
Eros had given less thought to them as time went on, it only brought him agony to imagine the fear and pain they must have had to endure. He had managed to get into the computer room once when no one was there and send out a radio signal in hopes that one of the soldiers would be able to find him but he was caught soon after sending it. The reason he was so scared of going into the computer room was because as punishment, Eros was beaten and raped for hours and given no food or water for three days.  
The signal must have been intercepted somehow by an outside source. Why it had taken five years, Eros had no idea.  
He tried to feel relieved by knowing that the men here had come to rescue him, but his friends were dead and the SEALs too were captured and dying. He didn’t want them to know it was him. His actual name hadn’t been used by anyone in the five years he was here, the only names he earned were “slut,” “slave,” or “bitch,” with the occasional “princess” from Richard, and “kid” from Andres.  
What would they think of him if they knew that this pathetic slutbag of skin and bones was the reason they were here?  
Probably try to kill him again.  
No, Eros wouldn’t tell them who he was. Nothing would change even if he did.  
“Why?” Eros finally managed.  
“Well.” Devin shrugged. “We received report of a signal coming from the general area where six soldiers disappeared. We were supposed to come here and extract them.”  
Eros felt confused by this. “Why would they send SEALs for a rescue mission?”  
“Something is blocking signals from passing through these islands. No one knew what to expect.”  
That still didn’t make sense to Eros. Surely they would have sent a simple search and rescue team if anything? And why did they only receive the signal a year ago?  
“You said they disappeared years ago right? Eros asked, trying to not let on that he knew anything.  
“That’s correct.”  
“Then why did you only receive the signal a year ago?”  
“We received report of the signal a year ago.” Devin corrected him. “Some tourist boat was close enough to the islands to catch on to the signal, they reported it to the Malagasy government who refrained from telling the U.S. because they didn’t want them to get involved in their own affairs.”  
“Soon after, something must have changed which stopped any signal from coming in because nothing made it through. They thought it must have been a mistake on the boat’s part.”  
Eros was still unsure, it didn’t seem to fit together, however he said nothing in fear that Devin would become suspicious.  
“Did you run into anyone who appeared to be a soldier or has those names?” Devin asked Eros.  
“No.” Eros lied.  
Devin didn’t seem to care too much. “Well finding them isn’t our greatest concern at the moment anyways. Before we can help them we have to escape ourselves. We should get some sleep.”  
Eros tried to but was wracked with nightmares of the faces of soldiers he had tried to forget. He saw them gunned down. Tortured. Raped. Killed. Over and over again until he woke up covered in sweat and breathing heavily. He was always awake before anyone else so he didn’t have to worry about embarrassing himself. He felt cramped in the cage and struggled to breathe until he was allowed out.  
After breakfast, Eros was bringing food to the prisoners when Regan’s fist caught him in the side of his face. The tray flew from his hands as Eros fell on his side, not expecting the blow.  
“You lying cunt!” Regan yelled at Eros.  
Eros didn’t know what Regan was referring to specifically so he stayed quiet.  
“Come here.” Nathan ordered Eros from where he was sitting by the cage.  
Eros did as commanded crawling to sit on the deck between Nathan’s legs where he stared at the ground apprehensively. Nathan scowled at him and gripped his hair in a tight fist.  
“You told us that they didn’t have a mission they knew. You told us that their first in command was killed.”  
“Eros glanced up at Nathan and rubbed his hands together nervously. “Yes Sir.”  
“You lied.”  
“It was what they told me Sir.” Eros said pleadingly.  
“You didn’t actually think we would trust the words of a whore did you?” Nathan growled. “You were just there to get them to talk, the recorders got us the information we wanted.”  
Eros flinched and looked into the cage. He met Devin’s hard gaze and looked back down at the deck.  
“Now that we have all the information we need, there really is no reason to keep them alive.” Nathan pulled a handgun from his holster and stood to point it right at Devin’s head who met his stare head-on.  
“Please Sir!” Eros cried out and pulled at the bottoms of Nathan’s pants. “Don’t harm them, they had nothing to do with me lying!”  
Nathan didn’t even glance at Eros. “They have no purpose here. They eat up food, take up space, and they made our little slave disobey us.”  
“Please Sir, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again! I’m begging you, don’t kill them!” Eros was sobbing at this point holding onto Nathan’s feet while tears dropped steadily from his face onto Nathan’s boots.  
The other guards watched silently and the prisoners, although alarmed, did not beg or cry. The only sound was Eros’ cries for several seconds until Ian chimed in.  
“They can still provide entertainment.” He suggested quietly.  
“There’s things we haven’t done to them yet I still want to try.” Liam chimed in and Nico agreed.  
Nathan paused. After what felt like hours of waiting to see if Nathan would just pull the trigger anyways, he turned glaring to Eros and put the gun down.  
“Fine.” He scowled. “Liam and Nico, make sure he is properly punished for disobeying us, then put him in the cage. He will be spending any time he isn’t cooking or entertaining in there from now on so we know exactly what he is up to.”  
Eros looked up in relief, tears still streaming down his face quietly. “Thank you Sir, I accept any punishment for disobeying.”  
Nathan slapped him hard across the face. “Next time you do something like that, I’m going to cut off your tongue and fuck you with it.” He warned Eros dangerously who trembled like a leaf under his harsh gaze.  
Satisfied, Nathan left with most of the guards, Kyle and Dallas stayed behind to watch what Liam and Nico had planned for Eros.  
“I think that our prisoners need to thank our little whore for saving their pathetic lives.” Liam told Nico with a smirk.  
“Oh, I definitely agree.”  
“And what does a whore love more than anything?”  
“He loves cock.” Nico said, pinning Eros with a menacing stare. “I bet the prisoners would love to give you their cocks as a gift, am I wrong?”  
Eros shrunk under their gaze and looked into the cage, seeing confusion on most of the prisoner’s faces, except a few who understood what Nico meant. The doors were opened and Liam threw Eros into the cage, following after him with Nico.  
“How about we start with their leader, who is in fact, not dead.” Liam decided.  
Eros couldn’t do anything to disobey as his head was pushed into Devin’s crotch. He had already risked too much today.  
But the thought of doing this against someone’s will made his stomach shrink. “Yes Sir.” His voice cracked.  
Devin glared down at Eros in warning but Eros just swallowed and moved his mouth to the top of Devin’s pants. Suddenly Eros was pushed back roughly as Devin kicked him hard in the chest. He fell back into Daniel and quickly scrambled away from him before he could kick him too.  
“Nico, he isn’t taking his gift.” Liam turned to him.  
“I think he just needs some encouragement.” Nico assured him, pulling a whip from his belt and pointing it at Eros. “This man here is offering his cock to you, go receive it.”  
Eros looked at Devin but he looked prepared to kick him again so he looked up at Liam questioningly.  
“But Sir, he-”  
Nico swung the whip hard and struck Eros’ ass, making him jump forward.  
“Suck him off.” He ordered.  
Eros crawled forward and tried to plead with Devin, only using his eyes, but once again he was met with a kick. He tried to hold the man’s legs still but wasn’t strong enough and earned a kick to the face along with a harsh strike from Nico.  
“I’m getting impatient here. If you won’t suck him off, we might as well let him fuck you.”  
Eros shuddered, tears of frustration building up in his eyes. Devin’s eyes flashed at Nico’s words and finally Eros saw him force his legs to relax.  
Eros crawled to him once again, expecting to be kicked or whipped again but felt nothing so he proceeded to pull down Devin’s pants slowly. When his length was released from the confines of his pants, Devin tensed up. Eros looked him in the eyes before mouthing the words ‘I’m sorry’.  
He worked his tongue around the head of Devin, licking his salty slit before fitting his head into his mouth. He pressed him deeper into his throat slowly before pulling his head back. Devin did not thrust, and did not harden until Eros began to use his fingers to gently caress Devin’s ballsack. Devin let out a small groan and Eros picked up his pace, his head bobbing up and down on Devin’s length until he managed to get the whole thing down his throat.  
Eros kept his eyes closed until he tasted Devin’s salty cum in his mouth and opened his eyes to see Devin breathing heavily above him. Eros saw his eyes flicker open so he looked back down at the deck to avoid looking into his eyes.  
“Good slut!” Nico said heartily while Dallas and Kyle chuckled outside the cage. “Now you still have eleven more gifts just waiting for you, so I’d get a move on.”  
Eros shuddered and did his best to resituate Devin’s pants back on him before moving on to the next man.  
About thirty minutes later, Nico and Liam got bored of watching Eros get the prisoners off because few would resist, meaning they had less opportunities to whip Eros. With four more men to go, they changed plans and made Eros pleasure them the way he had just done to the prisoners.  
When they finally finished, Eros’ jaw ached worse than it had in a long time and his back stung from the whip. Worse than that, he didn’t feel as though he would be able to look at any of the guards in the eye again. Not even Daniel who had been spared from Eros.  
“You are disgusting.” Devin hissed at Eros as the guards zipped up their pants.  
He said nothing in return because he knew it was true. The guards on the other hand just chuckled and before they left the cage, Kyle burst out. “Still think he is worthy of your failed rescue mission?”  
Kyle laughed at his own words but the other guards froze, as did Eros.  
“You dumb piece of shit!” Regan barked at Kyle with a quick slap to the back of his head.  
Nico and Liam just glared at Kyle as they quickly left the cage. The guards walked into the shack arguing under their breath as Kyle grumbled out an excuse while looking embarrassed.  
Eros turned to Devin who was studying Eros’ face with the familiar look of disgust. Eros was relieved by this, he’d rather they hated him over knowing who he was.  
Suddenly Daniel let out a gasp behind him. “I know who he is!”  
The other prisoner’s faces changed from disgust to confusion as they looked to Daniel.  
“He’s Eros Vaea!”  
Eros just lowered his gaze to the deck and said nothing, now that they knew, they would probably never let him talk or sing to them again. He had found comfort and a small amount of forgiveness in himself when he took care of them. They would probably refuse his help now and it was all his fault.  
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Daniel demanded, looking exasperated.  
Eros just hugged himself, and sighed.  
“You never would have looked at me and thought I was a soldier, it wouldn’t do anything for you.”  
“We came here to get you off this island, how would knowing you not help us do that?” Devin glared at him.  
“You said it yourself. It’s the lowest priority at the moment.” Eros said dejectedly.  
“Well know we at least know whose side you are on.”  
“It’s not that simple.” Eros told him frustratedly. “These men will take anything we see as a strength and use it against us! I’ve been here for five years and have not gotten any chance at escape and I can’t watch anymore of your men die.”  
“You can help us.” Devin assured him.  
“No I can’t.” Eros reminded him, pointed at the shack.  
Devin motioned him over. “They can’t hear us if we talk quietly.”  
“Yes they can.” Eros pressed. “That’s how they learned what your actual mission is.”  
“That’s because no one else was talking.” Devin looked pointedly at his men who understood what he wanted.  
One by one they began talking to each other. It started off as quiet whispers and Devin just waited patiently until a few minutes later the whispers turned into normal talking volume.  
“They won’t be able to hear us like this.” Devin assured Eros.  
Eros just looked nervously back at the shack. “Please don’t make me do this. They will know. They always do somehow.”  
“Eros.” He looked up at that. He hadn’t been referred to by his real name in years and it felt foreign, but there was a hint of comfort that Eros felt by it. “You can help us. You are going to be okay but we all need to help each other. Okay?” Devin spoke quietly as if to a child.  
Eros looked into Devin’s eyes. There was no longer disgust, it was mostly pity. Eros lowered his head, pity was definitely worse than disgust he decided.  
“There is more to why we were chosen for this mission.” Devin told Eros after getting no response.  
His head perked up and he looked questioningly to Devin.  
“The reason the Malagasy government kept report of the signal from the U.S. is because they have been trying to cover up some of their actions.” Devin explained carefully. “They’ve been struggling economically for years, this is not new to anyone. When an unknown group came to the government and told them that they could get them the money they needed as long as they were offered protection, the government agreed.”  
Devin paused then continued. “They were making money from human trafficking.” He told him, disgust in his eyes, however not aimed at Eros for once. “When the government finally realized that the money was coming from their own people being sold as slaves, they revoked their support and the group fell apart pretty fast luckily. However a smaller radical group separated from them and began their own business. This new group finally brought the U.S.’ attention to the Malagasy’s situation. The only signs of them, the report of the signal included, pointed them to being near these islands.”  
“You told me you’ve never seen anyone but guards on these islands, is that correct?” Devin asked Eros who nodded. “We were to come here and search for the soldiers who disappeared here but to also search for any signs of the radical group. These guards very well could be a part of it.”


	11. Chapter 11

Eros thought about what Devin had told him for many hours. He didn’t have any reason to not believe him, however believing in the chance to escape was something completely terrifying. He wanted to do his best to get on the good side of the guards again. He told Devin that he would come back to the proposition of helping them escape later.  
That succeeded in making Devin and the other prisoners angry until they saw that scaring him would just make him less likely to help them out. Their anger still permeated the air, but it slowly dissipated and shifted into pity.  
Eros didn’t want their pity. He already knew that he was a pathetic excuse for a soldier, he should be jumping on the idea of escape, not curling up in fear for only thinking of it. But obeying his captors was ingrained in him too deep for him to muster up strong enough courage to combat the fear. So instead of helping those who came to free him, he ignored them and tried to relax until it was time to make food again.  
Eros had become the subject of nightly entertainment slightly less as the guards found more flexibility in the permanent damage they could do to their other prisoners. Tonight the guards chose Ade Kayomi. They pulled him outside of the cage, ignoring Eros who wanted to stop them from hurting him but just sat submissively in the corner despite having no physical shackles on him.  
Andres brought a large bucket full of water onto the deck and Nathan pushed Ade down in front of it. “Hold him still.” He commanded Richard and Andres who each held an arm.  
Ade pushed against their grip but was forced to stay where he was as Nathan grabbed him by his hips. Eros watched in horror, he had become all-too familiar with what was happening, unlike the other prisoners who were watching with varying degrees of confusion on their faces. Confusion which changed to the same horror Eros felt as Nathan pulled down Ade’s pants and unzipped his own to release himself.  
Ade must have realized what was happening as he let out a cry of protest and began to struggle harder against Richard and Andres. He pushed against them and tried to stand but suddenly there was a sharp SNAP And he let out a harsh yell. This gave Nathan enough time to prepare himself and he began pressing himself inside of Ade.  
The other prisoners looked away but Eros couldn’t take his eyes off of Ade who began bellowing at the intrusion until Nathan got tired of it and pushed his head underwater. A few seconds later Ade’s other arm was broken and Eros could hear him screaming under the water. Nathan usually gave Eros no air breaks when he fucked him in the same fashion, he was expected to hold his breath until Nathan finished.  
But Ade had enough strength to push his head above the water brief enough to get air several times. When Eros saw the terror in the man’s eyes, he felt something break inside of him. He had assumed the guards wouldn’t rape the other prisoners, Eros was the well-trained whore, not them. However Nathan’s sadism led him to desire breaking more people, something that Eros didn’t want to have to witness.  
Although Ade’s face was under the water, Eros could still feel the terror and pain from where he was. Being raped was something Eros had gotten used to, he would much rather be raped than watch it happen to someone else.  
When Nathan was finally done, Richard and Andres threw Ade back into the cage. There was a haunted look in Ade’s eyes as he curled in on himself while the other prisoners watched him, trying to hide their concern from the guards.  
Eros was expected to finish off the rest of the guards, each on taking their turn fucking him into the water. Eros had much more practice with this than Ade had and was able to stay underwater without struggling too hard. He was still sore when they were finished but all he could think about was the pain that Ade must have felt. He never wanted to see anyone suffer like Ade again.  
“I’ll do it.” He told Devin quietly when he was returned, soaking, to the cage, hoping Devin would understand what he meant.  
Devin looked at him for a few seconds before he turned to Ade. “Good.” Was all he said.  
Eros crawled to Ade who was bleeding considerably and trying to rest in a way that his two broken arms wouldn’t hurt as much.  
“Here, let me help you.” Eros murmured quietly. When he touched him, Ade flinched and tried to move out of his reach but Eros was able to calm him down enough to help him. He moved Ade into the best position and Ade looked at him, eyes still haunted.  
“I don’t know how you can survive that.” He agonized. “What do you do for the pain?”  
Eros looked at him sympathetically. “The only thing you can do is try and keep your mind off it and sleep.”  
Ade looked away and Eros turned to crawl to his own sleeping space when Ade spoke again.  
“Could you sing?” He asked Eros, then immediately regretted his words, looking at the men around him in embarrassment. “Sorry.” He muttered under his breath.  
“No, a song would probably help all of us.” The man next to Ade, Isaiah Moekena, agreed, coming to Ade’s aid to help him feel comfortable with wanting to hear Eros sing.  
Eros felt a small smile cross his face and he settled where he was so he could sing gently. Singing a prayer for the spirits above to grant Ade peace for sleep and to help heal him faster, Eros saw that his singing seemed to help the men, even if they were too proud to admit it.  
He sang until his own eyes closed and Eros slept surprisingly peacefully.  
However waking up was a different matter. What began as an unfamiliar ‘thwupping’ in the distance grew louder until Eros realized it was not a part of his dream. He sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes quickly, seeing that the other men around him were also waking up.  
The source of the noise came from a helicopter in the distance. This helicopter didn’t look to be anything near military-grade, it looked more like a private tourist helicopter. It flew closer to the islands, heading almost directly for the shack.  
Eros prayed to his ancestors that this was not some poor unsuspecting person who had come to explore the island. He didn’t want more people to be stuck here. He hoped it would change its mind of where it wanted to go and turn around, but no luck.  
The helicopter moved directly above the deck and then moved behind the shack, out of sight. Eros waited for a guard to come out running, looking alarmed, but no such thing happened.  
Instead, Nathan walked onto the deck with Ian on his heels. “Get him out.” Nathan commanded.  
Ian came into the cage and yanked Eros up by the wrist, making him yelp in surprise and confusion. He was taken to the middle of the deck where Nathan stood. Eros sat on the deck by Nathan’s feet and looked around warily, meeting the gaze of the other prisoners who were now wide awake and waiting to see what would happen.  
Ian left the deck and returned a few minutes later, with a strange man following him.  
He was quite old, white patchy hair trying to cover a balding head, thin body wearing a gray and navy suit which looked too expensive to be wearing on this island. He wore a pair of yellow-tinted glasses that he peered through at Eros with sharp eyes which terrifyingly appeared almost red.  
“This is the one?” He asked Nathan. His voice was surprisingly powerful, and he stood confidently.  
“Yes. I thought he would fit your request.”  
“Hmmm. This might actually work. Let me see the back.” Eros was turned around roughly and he felt the man’s gloved hands touch his back, tracing the whip marks.  
“Why is it marked?” The man asked Nathan and for the first time, Eros could have sworn Nathan looked nervous.  
“We had to teach him a lesson.” Nathan said shortly.  
“How long ago did you mark it?”  
“Just two weeks or so.”  
Liar  
“And you said you and your men have used him sexually, yes?”  
“Yes.”  
The man continued touching Eros, he examined every part of him very thoroughly, too thoroughly for Eros’ comfort. Most of the focus was on Eros’ back, and Eros saw the man taking notes. He wanted to ask Nathan what was going on but if even Nathan was scared of him, then Eros didn’t dare risk upsetting him.  
Finally after what felt like hours, the man stepped away from Eros abruptly. “Yes, it will do. I’ll be back for it in a week or so. Feed and water it extra so it can build up strength and do not mark it up more.” The man commanded Nathan before turning and walking through the shack, with Nathan following him.  
“Alright, back in you go.” Ian told Eros.  
Eros did as bade and crawled across the deck feeling stunned from the encounter which had been to fast for him to process.  
Back in the cage he was met with several curious stares from the other prisoners.  
“Who was that?” Daniel asked Eros immediately when Ian was out of earshot.  
“I do not know. I have not seen him before today.” Eros told him honestly. “No one has ever come here besides the guards.”  
“I have.”  
Everyone looked to Ade who was still lying in the position Eros had set him up in the night before. “He is one of the men suspected to be a part of that group.”  
Eros had to think for a second before he remembered what Devin had told him about the radical human trafficking group. “Do you know his name?” He asked Ade.  
“He was referred to only as Doctor Devoly by those who he worked with before they split off. It simply means ‘Doctor Devil’ in Malagasy.”  
“I want to talk to Ade.” Devin told the men around him who then began the same thing they had done yesterday; They all gradually talked louder until it was safe enough to whisper without the words getting caught by the recorder. Devin gestured Eros over with a nod from his head so Eros could lean forward and listen to his words.  
“Ask Ade why he is called Doctor Devil.” Devin asked Eros who nodded before he crawled to Ade and forwarded the question.  
“They say he wasn’t a part of the human trafficking to sell the humans. He used them in his own experiments.” Ade told him.  
Eros relayed the message and acted as the liaison for the rest of the conversation.  
“What kind of experiments?”  
“Well none of his victims were actually found, and anyone who used to work with him refused to say anything other than it was ‘truly disturbing’. Strange coming from human traffickers. All records were taken from the site or destroyed so we still are not sure.”  
“And you are positive that is the same man?”  
“Absolutely, I was sent in to capture the traffickers when the radical group became knowledge to the U.S.. I did my research.”  
“So they are considered a ‘radical human trafficking group’ because they experiment on their victims?” Eros asked Ade.  
“That seems to be the only purpose of them, there was no evidence pointing towards them being sold anywhere.”  
Eros felt fear over what this meant for his own future. He was used to being tortured, yes. But being the subject of experimentation of an unknown nature? That was too much for him to think about. Devin didn’t ask anymore questions but sat thinking while Daniel gave Eros a worried stare.  
“He gave you a week, right? Maybe we can try and escape before then.”  
Eros shook his head. “We are going to need a much better plan than one that takes just a few days to make. Don’t underestimate these people, that will be your undoing.”  
Daniel narrowed his eyes. “If we don’t escape before then, we won’t be able to take you with us.”  
“You can come back.” Eros told him. “Whatever happens, I want you to make it out.”  
Daniel’s brows softened and he gave Eros a small smile. “You are going to get out of here Eros, I promise you.”  
Eros did his best at returning the smile, but didn’t have the heart to tell Daniel that he would probably be dead before they could come back for him.  
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, after a while, Devin called Eros over and they began talking about all of the possible ways they could escape. Sadly most of what Eros had to say were reasons why a plan wouldn’t work, instead of coming up with his own ideas. As more and more ideas were shot down, Devin became more and more irritated.  
“Do you even want to escape?” He snapped at Eros eventually.  
Eros flinched. “Of course I do.” He told him quietly.”But I know these men better than you do and we will only have one chance to escape. If it fails once, we won’t be escaping with everyone here.”  
Devin only gave a grunt in response and Eros could tell that he didn’t want to talk anymore so he returned to tending to Ade and the other men who were injured. Thabo’s finger stumps were healing as fine as could be expected. Alexander’s lashes were only scars. Daniel, although still weak, had no signs of being hurt before besides the fever which seemed to return every few days. His ear which had been burned by Liam’s taser was deformed, but healed to the point where it didn’t hurt anymore. Devin had a black eye and was covered in black and purple bruises from being used as Richard’s personal punching bag, but Eros couldn’t do anything to help him, not that Devin wanted to talk to him right now.  
Lenny was recovering from a broken jaw as well as broken fingers. William had several broken ribs and lashes from a whip. Tyler was concussed. Yaya was covered in welts. Felix had a broken ankle and a dark bruise around his neck. Angel had been victim to Liam’s obsession with cutting people. And finally Jose had burns covering his arms and legs.  
The men had also already lost a ton of weight. They went from two hundred pounds of pure muscle that required three to four thousand calories a day, to barely surviving off of eight hundred a day if they were lucky. They were still huge compared to Eros, but getting smaller and weaker. Their hair was also growing out of regulation, making it easier to distinguish one from another.  
Eros did his best to help out each man before he decided to sing to them, instead of a lullaby, it was a song of the harvest. The purpose of the words didn’t quite fit the situation, but it was a happier song and Eros hoped to raise the men’s spirits even if his own were down.  
The next few days were almost peaceful. The guards followed the orders from Doctor Devoly to not harm Eros and to give him extra food and water. In fact, the men seemed to decrease their torture of the other prisoners as well. Each night they whipped, paddled or sometimes beat someone, but not nearly as bad as previous times, and nothing else was done to them.  
Eros sang to the men every night and during the day whenever he sensed extra stress in them. There was extra stress especially from Daniel who seemed to have gotten sick again and complained about the wounds on his back being sore despite the fact that they looked healed over. His fever came back strong and Eros spent time just talking to Daniel. He would tell him stories about the constellations at night, and sometimes during the day, or he would just talk about what he saw, and what he had done that day.  
The men found comfort in Eros as they thought of ways to escape. At first, his voice had just been a distraction from discomfort, but now his voice calmed them and helped them think of places beyond the island, beyond Earth herself.


	12. Chapter 12

However, the feelings of peace didn't last long.  
Although the guards had laid off the prisoners for the last few days on the orders of Dr. Devoly, eventually their content to live without tormenting others wore off.  
“C’mere princess.” Richard called to Eros before he could serve food to the prisoners.  
When Eros got to him, Richard grabbed Eros’ hair and yanked him up onto his lap. Eros did his best to not cringe at the smell of alcohol on his breath as Richard brought his slimy lips to Eros’ ear. Alcohol wasn’t common for the guards to partake in, especially not before dinner, and it usually made Ero’s job to please the guards harder.  
“Since we’ve only got a few more days with ya, let’s make them times to remember.” He murmured in Eros’ ear before biting it as his hand trailed down to the small of his back. He nuzzled Eros’ neck and took a deep breath before turning to the others.  
“Let’s make sure he never forgets our names.” Richard called out to the other guards. “What do you say boys?” He was met with enthusiastic responses, especially from Liam who hadn’t used his knives on anyone in days.  
Richard chuckled, taking his hand off the small of Eros’ back and slapping his ass hard, making him flinch. “Hand that over here.” Richard held out his hand to Liam who had one of his many knives in his grip.  
Eros did his best to sit still while Richard turned the knife over in his hands, however when the tip of the knife was brought down to Eros’ right hip, he let out an involuntary flinch and had to look away. Richard chuckled and then began to press the knife through Eros’ skin agonizingly slow. Eros closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as the sharp pain increased, he wanted Richard to go faster, but he got a sense that Richard was going this slow on purpose.  
When he had the tip of the knife in Eros’ skin as deep as he wanted, Richard slowly lifted the knife, then brought it back down right at the top of the cut which was already dripping blood. Richard made what felt like a small arc with the knife before making another line and when he was done he ordered Eros to open his eyes and look.  
Eros felt sick when he looked down. Now he understood what Richard meant by making sure he would ‘never forget their names’. A bleeding ‘R’ about an inch tall had been carved into Eros’ hipbone and for some reason, this seemed more permanent than the other countless scars that littered his body. Now he could never remove this man from his body, he would be violating him constantly.  
Eros felt tears prickle at the back of his eyes but he forced them away and looked up at Richard.  
“There you go Princess, now I’ll always be a part of you.” He told Eros with an evil grin on his face, matching that of the other guards who eagerly awaited their turn to mark the slave.  
Eros didn’t resist. Not that he normally did, but this time it was a matter of exhaustion, not self-perseverance that led him to do so. As each guard added their own first initial to Eros’ right hip or leg, he felt more and more hopeless. He didn’t want to remember the names of the men who had brought his life crashing down into hell.  
“Now that we’ve marked our old whore, it’s time to start training our new whore.” Nathan decided once everyone had carved their name into Eros’ skin.  
Liam, Nico, and Kyle all shared grins and Richard chuckled, elbowing the two men at his sides, Tarence and Dallas, who looked thrilled as well. Eros was less excited by this prospect, he didn’t know what had compelled him to think that the men would leave the prisoners alone once he was gone. Some childish false hope.  
“Now, that bitch I fucked the other night was tight as fuck.” Nathan told the others and Eros could have sworn he saw Ade flinch where he was laying. “But our new whore needs more than a tight hole.”  
The guards looked at the prisoners through the cage and argued over who they wanted for a while before it was decided. Although he had done his best to conceal any emotion he felt just like the others around him, when Tyler was picked out, there was unmistakable fear in his eyes.  
The prisoners protested as Tyler was unchained and dragged outside the cage. When he was dropped at the feet of Nathan, he immediately tried to rise to his feet.  
“Rule number one.” Nathan growled. “Whores use their legs for crawling, riding cock, and spreading them, walking is a privilege that must be earned. One that you haven’t earned yet.”  
Tyler just glared defiantly at Nathan and Eros cursed his stupidity. Nathan’s eyes narrowed at the challenge and a second later he slammed his fist hard into the side of Tyler’s face who stumbled hard but managed to stay standing. This infuriated Nathan who grabbed Tyler by the throat and used his right foot to kick Tyler’s from underneath him.  
Tyler fell to the ground hard with a grunt, not able to use his chained hands to right himself, and Nathan stood over him before he turned to Liam. “Go get me the blowtorch.” He ordered him.  
Liam smirked wickedly and retrieved the wanted object, handing it to Nathan who then spoke to Tyler.  
“Since you seem to love standing on your feet so much, I’ll let you walk to each man before he shoves his cock in your mouth.”  
Tyler paled at that, seeming to finally understand what was going to happen to him.  
“If anyone puts their dick near me, I’ll rip it off with my teeth.” He threatened, not backing down.  
“Sweetheart, if you so much as think of putting a single tooth on me, I’ll knock out each of your pretty teeth.” Richard growled.  
Tyler tried to get to his feet again but Nathan grabbed his right foot and pulled it to him. “You can make this as hard or as easy as you want, but we always get what we want, something you would be better off learning fast.” With that, he clicked a button on the side of the torch and brought the flame to the bottom of Tyler’s foot.  
Tyler’s shriek pierced the air immediately as the flame touched the bottom of his foot and he thrashed in Nathan’s grip but his weakened body was no match for both Nathan and Richard who stepped onto Tyler’s hands to keep him more still.  
Nathan held the flame to Tyler’s skin long enough for it to melt, which only took a few seconds, and Tyler screamed the whole time. The smell of burning flesh was not new to Eros, however, it had never been this powerful and he wanted to vomit.  
The other prisoners had averted their gazes, their teeth clenched and hands in fists as they tried to block out the screams of agony from one of their own who they were powerless to help.  
By the time Nathan had finished his second foot, Tyler’s screaming had died down into whimpers as he fell into shock.  
“Well, he’s useless in this state.” Kyle complained when Nathan lifted Tyler up, only for him to fall to the deck like a ragdoll.  
“We can have our old whore help take his replacement back to where he belongs and then come do his job.” Nathan told him, still glaring down at Tyler who had curled into a weak ball once released from the guard’s grip.  
Eros followed the order, cringing at the burn from his cuts as he moved his right leg to crawl. Tyler was barely conscious when Eros got to him and tears were streaming down his face which was contorted in agony despite the shock which hopefully blocked him from feeling most of the pain. Eros grabbed Tyler carefully by his ankles and dragged him slowly across the deck to the cage, struggling with the weight of the man.who was easily three times his size even after losing a lot of weight.  
Eros finally managed to get the man to his place in the cage and chain his legs down before he was ordered to finally bring the prisoners their dinner. The prisoners just watched the guards warily while doing their best to keep an eye on Tyler who was slumped over. Eros tried to feed Tyler his food so he wouldn’t go the night hungry but received no cooperation from the man who wouldn’t even swallow the food. With a quiet frustrated sigh, Eros took Tyler’s bowl of food before doing the same with the other prisoners’ and taking them into the shack.  
When he was finished, he began crawling towards the cage but was stopped by Richard stepping in front of him.  
“You haven’t already forgotten us have you whore? Our names are imprinted on you and yet you’ve already forgotten we own your body?” Richard smirked before sending a harsh kick to Eros’ still-burning side, making him yelp.  
“I’m sorry Sir, I’m here to serve you how you see fit.” Eros apologized quietly and bowed his head.  
“Goddamn right you are!” Kyler shouted across the deck. “Come suck my cock!”  
“Yeah, I don’t think he is. You’ll get your turn later.” Richard glared at Kyler who just glared back.  
“Come on man!” He whined. “I won’t take too long.”  
Regan laughed at that. “We all know you don’t last long anyways. You could probably finish in the time it takes for Richard to cross the deck and knock your eyes back into your skull!”  
The guards let out a chorus of laughter and Eros turned to Richard, he feared Richard’s wrath more than Kyler’s anyway.  
“That’s it, princess.” Richard groaned when Eros got his lips around him. “Fucking take it.”  
Eros sucked his hard length and pushed it deep into his throat, tongue gliding up and down before he pulled back and repeated, going deeper and faster with each thrust from Richard. He definitely had much more stamina than Kyler. And he was bigger.  
Richard loved to pull on Eros’ hair with each harsh thrust, making it harder for Eros to focus on pleasing him while his scalp was trying to disconnect from his head. When he was about to finish, Richard yanked hard on Eros’ hair and forced himself deep enough down his throat that Eros’ nose was shoved in his pubic hairs. Eros did his best not to but couldn’t stop himself from choking and Richard groaned louder at the feeling, tightened his grip and forcing Eros to stay where he was.  
A few years ago, Eros would have tried to pull away or even push Richard back to try and breathe, but he had enough experience with this man to know that he would probably punish him by forcing him to take two cocks down his throat at once until he passed out. Or he would have to wear the training gag which forced his mouth to stay open without the threat of teeth. Either way, just sticking it out would be better, and frankly, it wasn’t hard. Eros had become used to the burning of choking.  
Richard came with a final long groan and hard thrust, then released Eros’ hair, who pulled back and coughed harshly a few times before cleaning Richard’s cock off with his tongue.  
Kyler was next. He tried to prove he was ‘better at fucking a bitch’ than Richard, whatever that meant, by pulling at Eros’ hair and thrusting down his throat, however, just as expected, he finished rather fast.  
“Whatever, it’s been a while!” He tried to defend himself, but the others just laughed at him, causing a slight angry blush to cross his cheeks.  
Kyler stormed out after that, Liam and Nico looked at each other, as if asking the other if they should go after him, but they decided against it and turned their attention to Eros.  
They took Eros at the same time, Nico in his mouth, and Liam in his ass. Liam dug his fingernails into Eros’ back while he fucked him, luckily he seemed more interested in scratching him than holding onto his hips. A few minutes in, the two guards switched positions and unfortunately, Nico decided he wanted better leverage and dug his fingers into Eros’ hips, making his stinging right side begin to bleed again. Eros did his best not to flinch as each thrust tore his skin more, and was glad when the two men finally finished.  
Regan was next, he face-fucked Eros before he turned his attention to his ass and took him on his back.  
Then Dallas, Tarence, and Ian stood around Eros who took Dallas and Ian in his hands while Tarence got his mouth, switching the order periodically until each man had finished.  
Finally, it was Nathan’s turn. He slowly circled Eros’ body, like a hawk eyeing its prey until he decided to attack. First, he fucked Eros’ hole, then opted for his throat while Eros laid on the deck. Eros’ eyes were closed until he felt Nathan’s finger slide inside of him and he looked down to see if it was actually Nathan. When he saw that it was Eros raised his legs obediently to give Nathan better access as he began to add more fingers.  
Nathan had never bothered to finger him, not even the first night where he had taken Eros roughly without any hint of preparation. Eros was already well-prepared from the men before Nathan and the fact that he was doing it now confused him until Nathan began to press his whole hand inside of Eros. He tried to relax his resisting muscles as Nathan’s fist entered him completely. When Nathan drew his fist outside of him, Eros felt empty and cold, but that was preferable to the alternative.  
Nathan fisted Eros for a few more minutes while fucking his throat, finding pleasure in the soft inaudible whimpers Eros unwillingly released when Nathan stretched out his fingers against the clenching walls of Eros’ now-loose hole.  
Finally, the men managed to convince Andres to participate. Eros gave him a lapdance, watching as his dark eyes seemed to grow even darker with arousal before Eros ground himself on top of him. Andres groaned low in his throat as his member was released and hardened completely when he felt Eros’ soft mouth surround him. Andres still didn’t pull at Eros’ hair or body, instead, they rested lightly in his hair, which was relieving, especially since his scalp still burned from Richard and Kyler.  
Although the night’s entertainment lasted long into the darkness, and the prisoners were drowsy, they refused to sleep while the guards were here. At least everyone but Tyler who was still passed out and Daniel, who had been coming in and out from a strong fever for the last few hours.  
When it finally ended, Eros felt much more sore than he usually did and looked forward to sleep. The other prisoners greeted him quietly when he entered the cage and he did his best to respond without showing the pain he felt. He crawled to Tyler first, ripping his shirt into bandages which he wrapped around his feet, doing his best to be gentle despite the groans Tyler let out from his feet being handled.  
Tyler’s feet were bright red and the skin was peeling away or melted, he would probably never be able to walk again without a lot of practice, something that he wouldn’t get here. Eros hoped that he would be able to survive what the guards had in store for him, long enough for him and the others to escape.  
So far planning an escape hadn’t been very successful. There were very few options and all of them had holes in them which if they fell into, would leave many of the prisoners dead. Most involved one of the men attacking the guards while in their chains for hopes that they were carrying the keys to unlock them. If by some miracle, they were able to do this, then they would have to find a way to either get off the island without the other islanders knowing and escape even though they had no means of transportation, or find a way to unblock signals from the island and hope that a nearby ship could catch something.  
“The first thing we need to do is find the keys.” Devin told Eros after he had checked on Daniel who still had a fever.  
“I’ve never seen where the guards put them, but they might be in the shack.” Eros informed him.  
“Can you check next time you are preparing a meal?” Devin asked and Eros bit his lip nervously.  
“Everything I need to cook is in the corner where the kitchen is, I’ve never had a reason to look at the other stuff in there.”  
Devin looked at Eros almost incredulously. “Did you never even think to look and see if there is anything that could help us?”  
Eros flinched at the tone of Devin’s voice. He understood Devin’s frustration with him, to him it seemed so obvious. Eros had been in the military for years, so why wouldn’t he try everything to escape? But to Eros, his years of captivity weighed heavily upon him, creating his own shackles which prevented him from leaving. No matter what happened, he felt as though he would get caught and punished, preventing such a thing from happening had been his focus for the last few years. Not something as lofty as escape.  
Eros dropped his eyes to the deck and said nothing. Devin’s first response to this was anger, he hated when people didn’t answer him. However, he had to calm himself down before he said something which would scare Eros more.  
“I’m sorry Eros. I know our experience has been different from yours, but now you have the opportunity to help all of us to escape. You are in the most opportune position out of all of us.” Devin tried to speak softly, but he could see that Eros wasn’t in a good place at all.  
Eros thought about Devin’s words. They hurt, yes, but what truly hurt was the fact that he would have once jumped at the opportunity for assistance in escape. Now he might as well have been one of the guards because he was being no help. He had fallen so low and he knew he was a poor excuse for a soldier. But he didn’t have to stay that way.  
Devin watched Eros for a few minutes before looking away, expecting Eros to either break down or leave to Daniel when instead he blurted out “I’ll look for the keys when I cook breakfast tomorrow.” Devin relaxed at this.  
“Thank you, Eros. Be brave.”  
Eros just nodded and gulped over the prospect of what he had just agreed to do. It might not have seemed like searching a room was a big deal, but to Eros it meant the beginning of an escape attempt. Talking about escape was terrifying enough, but actually beginning to try was another thing, and if it didn’t work, he could very well be the cause of the death of the other men. The guards wouldn’t kill Eros. Somehow he knew that they feared the wrath of Dr. Devoly more than they would want to kill Eros.  
And it frightened Eros to think he would be leaving this prison to go to another one with that man.  
Eros’ thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone groaning behind him. When he turned, he saw that Daniel was conscious again. Eros crawled to him and felt his forehead, it was a bit cooler than it had been a few hours ago, but he was still very worried. A month had passed since Daniel had been injured by the whip and yet the side-effects of that were still taking their toll on him. The wound itself had never completely healed, his whole back looked like one giant bruise which had spread beyond the whip marks.  
Daniel’s injuries were infected.  
Eros felt dread pool in his stomach at the thought. There was no way the guards were going to give Daniel any medicine, and it didn’t seem like Daniel’s body was winning the fight.   
But maybe they weren’t infected. Eros had kept himself from thinking about what Daniel’s fever could mean for so long that seeing it now, his original hopes that his injuries would heal were fading.  
With a growing fear in him, Eros looked into the open eyes of someone who had become closer to him in a way he couldn’t describe.  
They hadn’t known each other long, and neither knew much about the other’s previous life, but there was still a sense of connection which went deeper than thought, touch, or speech. Daniel had been the first to really talk to Eros. Even though Daniel was harsh to Eros in the beginning, eventually he comforted Eros. Not necessarily with his words, but with the way he looked at Eros. The hatred they had held in the beginning had faded but hadn’t been replaced with pity like most of the other prisoners.   
They had looked at Eros in quiet relief when he would bring him food or tend to his wounds. Calmness when Eros would sing or talk to the prisoners. They would try to hide it, but Eros saw pain in his eyes when Eros was beaten. But more than that.  
Eros saw hope flash through Daniel’s eyes when he looked at Eros.  
It was fleeting, and most of the time he couldn’t tell if it was just wishful thinking or if it was actually there, but it helped Eros push forward.  
“Your eyes are nice.”  
Eros was startled by Daniel’s slurred words, he wasn’t there, not completely. There was a distant look of wonder in Daniel’s eyes as he stared up into Eros’. Right now he wasn’t trying to hide his emotions, or any weakness he felt.  
“They’re like, purple or something.” Daniel murmured. Eros felt something unfamiliar shoot through his chest and he rubbed it gently but didn’t break eye contact with Daniel. The feeling didn’t hurt, which was new for Eros, most new sensations he felt on the island were just different types of pain. Something that he had learned had no limits.  
However this felt… Nice?  
The sensation was almost warm. But more than that, Eros didn’t feel like his wounds hurt as bad anymore. He felt light, like he could fly away, but when he finally broke eye contact and looked at his feet, they were still touching the deck.  
“Yeah…” Eros mumbled, feeling like he couldn’t say anything more to Daniel.  
Daniel stared at Eros’ eyes for a few more moments before he looked up at the sky.  
“Do you really believe we will be up there when we die?”  
“I do.” He told Daniel.  
Daniel gave Eros an almost dreamy look. “I hope we will get to see each other up there Eros.” He murmured to him.  
Eros felt tears prickle at the back of his eyes but he said nothing, Daniel’s words had warmed him in a way he would never understand. But at the same time, he knew that Daniel never would have said those things if he had actually been lucid.  
Still, Eros sat and sang gently to Daniel while stroking his hair until the man fell back to sleep and Eros fell asleep quickly after him, holding on to the warmth that Daniel had somehow put in his chest.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning Eros was pleasantly surprised to feel that Daniel’s head had almost returned to a normal temperature. He said a quick prayer of thanks for this miraculous sign of hope before he left the cage.  
After Eros collected the ingredients he needed for today’s breakfast, he began glancing around the rest of the room.  
Where could the keys be?  
He was going to have to be quick about searching for them because Regan was the guard today and he never stayed in the computer room for long after letting Eros out.  
Eros saw an empty bucket sitting on a shelf and got an idea. He picked up the bucket and placed it next to the door to the computer room and then placed several loose nails in it. If Regan opened the door while Eros was searching, it wouldn’t stop him, it would just hopefully make enough sound to warn Eros.  
He quickly finished making pancake mix and dolloped a few scoops on the stove before turning it on. Then he looked to the cabinet closest to the kitchen. It had two planks with various tools and other boxes on each. Underneath it was a two-door cupboard with handles which were rusted and looking like they were about to fall off.  
He would check that one first, he decided. But his feet kept him where he was and he made no move to get to it. The guards would surely catch him snooping around and punish him severely for it. Or worse, they would find some excuse to punish the other prisoners for it.  
Eros glanced nervously at the door to the computer room, Regan could exit it any second. He scanned the room again, looking for any place which seemed obvious for holding keys. There was a display case sitting against the wall between the door leading outside and the kitchen that caught his eye. The upper half had a glass case with cracked doors and nothing inside, but the bottom was a wooden cabinet with a chain and lock around it. That one would be more likely to have the keys, Eros decided.  
Eros turned back to the kitchen to flip the pancakes before he could gather the courage to begin the search. He was doing this for the men outside, he reminded himself with a deep breath.   
For Daniel, Devon, Thabo, Alexander, Ade, Lenny, William, Tyler, Yaya, Felix, Angel, and Jose. For those who hadn’t made it this far: Ramis Dominguez, Eli Abara, Michael Harrison, and Riley Porter, so they could watch from the stars as their brothers escaped.  
With that thought, Eros took a final deep breath and walked carefully across the kitchen to the display case. He crouched down by the bottom cupboard and held the chain and lock in his hands. It was old and extremely rusty, he noted. He let go of the lock and grabbed the door handles, pulling them apart as far as the lock would allow.  
Peering inside, Eros could see a well-sized cardboard box sitting in the corner with its top undone. He could almost see through the top at what was in it. Eros pushed the doors against the strain of the chain holding them together, if he could get them open just a tiny bit mo-  
SNAP  
Suddenly there was nothing holding the doors together and they flung open with a thunk. Eros flinched at the noise and looked down in horror to see that the lock had broken under the minimal pressure he had placed on it. He scrambled away from the doors and moved back to the kitchen, worried that Regan would come and investigate the sound. He flipped the pancakes onto a dish and put more batter on the stove but there was still no sign of Regan.  
After waiting a minute or so more Eros breathed a quiet sigh of relief and crossed the floor back to the display case. He pulled the box out of the cupboard and peered anxiously inside.  
No keys. Just a hammer and a few random nuts and bolts.  
Eros felt disappointed and also confused. There was only one locked container in the shack and this was what it was holding? The chances that the keys were in here were low. But Eros had only checked one place so he had to keep going.  
He switched between cooking the pancakes and searching. There were many objects here which could possibly prove to be useful as weapons: screwdrivers, hammers, a bat, and even a small carving knife. There were other objects which were more strange and Eros noted some of them to come back and investigate later if he could: A small diary which seemed to be written by one of the guards, a photo of an unfamiliar woman, official looking documents with pictures of several scared looking people of various ages, and even a small ripped map which appeared to be of the island.  
Eros would definitely come back to that one later.  
By the time the sun had begun to rise, Eros had searched over half of the cupboards and shelves in the room with no luck. The men began to arrive at this point and Eros had no choice but to stop searching so he moved the bucket with the nails back to where he got it. He finished preparing the breakfast and eventually Regan came out of the computer room sparing Eros no more than a glance before moving outside.  
Eros wanted to check at least one more place before he would have to wait until the next meal to do so. He picked up a platter of food and passed it out to the guards before grabbing the second one. As he walked by the cabinet he had first spotted, Eros did his best to peer through the barely cracked-open doors and almost dropped the tray he was holding.  
There they were!  
Eros’ heart hammered in his chest and he stopped for a few seconds to stare at the cupboard. He put the tray down quickly and opened the cabinet door a little bit just to make sure he wasn’t seeing anything and sure enough, there they were. There were about twenty small keys and a few other pairs of shackles just sitting in the cupboard without anything to keep them from being stolen.   
All he wanted to do was go and share what he had found with the other prisoners but he needed to finish serving food first. Eros begrudgingly closed the doors and picked up the tray again before he continued outside as if nothing had happened.  
How could they have been so close to me this whole time? The guards didn’t even bother to lock them up!  
Eros felt excited by this new discovery, his initial nerves were completely gone, he just wanted to pass on the news to the other prisoners. He moved to prepare the food for the prisoners so he could do just this but heard something in the distance that stopped him. The quiet sound of helicopter blades whirring in the distance was not lost on the guards either, but they too looked confused.  
“Is that him?” Tarence asked, peering at the distant helicopter although it’s appearance was completely indiscernible.  
“If it is, he’s early.” Dylan noted.  
Eros froze where he was, his earlier excitement replaced with dread.  
It’s too soon! I have to tell them where the keys are!  
Eros moved from his spot and crawled quickly across the deck into the shack and carelessly scooped bowls of the food mixture until he had enough for the prisoners. He would have to move fast before Dr. Devoly arrived and took Eros along with his knowledge of the keys. He grabbed the trays and quickly walked to the cage, hoping that whatever guard was in the computer room would open the cage door fast.  
“Slave.”  
Fuck.  
Eros stopped where he was outside the cage and turned to Nathan.  
“They can be fed later. Go put the food back.” He ordered Eros.  
Eros looked back at the prisoners in the cage. Wanting nothing more than to just ignore Nathan’s orders, but fearing what he could do to him, Eros swallowed nervously and took a step towards Nathan.  
“That’s right, take your fucking time.” Nathan growled at him, making him jump.  
He knew he could have told the prisoners in a matter of seconds, but didn’t want to risk the guards suspecting him of knowing so Eros quickly walked back into the shack and put down the trays. Nathan and Richard stood in the shack with him and waited while Ian and Dylan ran outside the front door to greet the Doctor.  
Nathan and Richard stood still saying nothing with arms crossed against their chest while Eros began fidgeting with his hands, looking for a way he could tell the others where their keys were. Eros’ eyes were flickering across the room searching for anything he could use when the door suddenly opened and he knew it was too late.  
Dr. Devoly came in first, and his eyes searched the room until they landed on Eros who felt frozen in place. In the lighting, Dr. Devoly’s eyes looked almost red and the fear Eros had felt over going with this man returned strong.  
“You are early.” Nathan noted monotonously to Dr. Devoly who turned to him with a bored look which almost seemed more terrifying.  
“And?” He asked Nathan coolly.  
Nathan did his best to copy Devoly’s calm demeanor but Eros could see his jaw twitch a few times in annoyance. “It would have been more convenient had you warned us of this change.” Nathan told Devoly who dismissed this with a wave of his hand.  
“What’s convenient for you isn’t necessarily convenient for me. Bring it here.” He ordered Nathan.  
Richard looked to Nathan who, after a few seconds of staring at Dr. Devoly, gave him a slight nod. Richard moved to Eros and grabbed him by his shoulders, roughly guiding him over to Devoly. “You should be glad I even allowed you to keep this one for so long, the SEALs just weren’t what I needed for this upcoming trial.” Devoly told Nathan.  
Nathan said nothing in response, something Devoly noted, his face twisting into a slight scowl.  
“Remember, Nathan, I gave you everything you are today, I can take it from you just as easily.” He warned darkly.  
Nathan just averted his eyes before turning and walking onto the deck. Ricahard, Ian, and Dylan followed until it was just Eros and his new captor. Without a word, Devoly turned and walked out the front door, gesturing for Eros to follow. Eros hadn’t seen anything beyond what he could see from the deck for years and couldn’t help himself from gasping.  
Although it was more of the same: water, another deck, and trees, it still took Eros’ breath away. He almost forgot that he was still a prisoner. For years he had shied away from the front door just to make sure the guards didn’t think he was trying to escape. Now he was walking down the deck without any chains on him. The deck led to a helicopter which had landed on a makeshift pad on the sand. He felt so awed by the new things he could see from here, and his childish glee made him temporarily forget who he was leaving behind.  
He prayed that Tyler would learn his job fast so he could be allowed in the kitchen without supervision. Eros knew that Tyler would be stronger than he had been and with the help of his brothers, he wouldn’t lose his strength to escape. He just hoped that no one else would die in the time it would take to gain their freedom. They had never come to a conclusion about how the men would get off the island once they were able to escape the shack, and Eros prayed the men would be able to find something Eros had missed.  
Eros followed Devoly to the helicopter and crawled inside, immediately opening his mouth in wonder at the feeling underneath his hands and knees. The only thing he had been allowed to lay on was the hard wooden deck, and now feeling carpet was like bliss to him. He looked up to see Devoly settling in an extremely cozy looking chair and wondered if he would be allowed to sit on one.  
“Your place is there.” Devoly told him and pointed to the back of the helicopter where an extremely small plastic cage was sitting.  
Eros tried to stop the disappointment from settling in his chest; He had gotten used to being treated like an animal for years, there was no reason why that should change. But he had still hoped he could at least sit on the carpet, that way he might be able to look out the windows and enjoy what he expected his last minutes of relative comfort to be.  
Instead he crawled to the cage which couldn’t have been more than four feet tall and four feet wide and squeezed himself in. He had to sit with his knees tucked to his chest and head craned downward just a bit. Another man he didn’t recognize came through the cockpit and closed Eros’ cage. The cage was made of opaque white plastic which allowed light in, but stopped Eros from being able to see anything outside of the cage. The only openings were small holes in the ceiling for what Eros assumed were to allow him to breathe.  
The cage shook as the helicopter took off a few minutes later and despite not being able to see anything, Eros felt a bit of glee shoot through his chest at the sensation of flying. He hadn’t been able to pilot in years so even just being in the aircraft without sight reminded him of why he had fallen in love with his job. He had always felt powerful and in control when he was piloting and the sensation surprised him as he hadn’t felt anything like it in what seemed like a lifetime. He felt a bit of his terror which kept him from disobeying chip away and the strength he felt from it was unfamiliar but he wished for it to never leave him again.  
Eros enjoyed the ride which seemed to last only twenty minutes before the helicopter landed smoothly. He expected the cage doors to be opened for him so he could crawl but instead, felt the cage being lifted up and carried out of the aircraft before it was placed down. He knew that he was much lighter than he once was, but the fact that someone was strong enough to pick both him and his cage up easily was slightly disheartening.  
He heard voices talking and someone let out a yelp before he felt the cage moving, whatever it was on had wheels on it he guessed. He tried to peer through the breathing holes but couldn’t see anything besides a clear blue sky which changed to a gray cement ceiling when they entered a building. Eros was pushed for several more minutes before the cage was picked up and placed down again.  
When the door to the cage was opened, Eros looked outside to see he was in a sterile looking lab.  
“Get out.” He heard Devoly’s voice order him somewhere from his right side.  
Eros did as he was told, stretching his legs and arms after he was out of the cage on the floor while looking around the rest of the room. There were many unfriendly looking objects, including needles and bottles of unknown liquids, and a bed covered in leather straps that Eros had no doubt were to hold the victim down. Through a wall of thick looking glass was another room with padded walls and floor where Eros assumed he would be held. However these things weren’t anything compared to what he saw when he turned his head around to await Dr. Devoly’s instructions.  
In a gigantic display case which took up the entire wall, were a pair of wings unlike anything he had seen before. Although Eros hadn’t done much studying of birds while collecting their dropped feathers, he knew at the very least that these wings were bigger than any found naturally on earth.  
They must have been at least fifteen feet across, bigger than the wings of the biggest bird by at least three feet. They were a light brown color with reddish-brown undertones, and would have looked powerful if not for the bits of pinkish flesh Eros could see from where they must have been disconnected from their owner. The whole room was cold, but Eros could see bits of frost collecting on the display case, meaning the wings were being kept preserved, for reasons unknown to Eros.  
It was a strange thing to keep in a laboratory.  
“Do you like them?” Devoly’s words brought Eros out of his awe.  
“Yes Sir.” He told him with a slight nod.  
“I had to breed and genetically engineer over one hundred condors to get them this big. Luckily the time it took allowed me to perfect the method of surgery needed to disconnect the wings and connect them to others.”  
Eros looked at him confused. He had no idea what one would want to connect a bird’s wings to but decided against questioning the doctor.  
“Now.” The doctor said, moving his gaze from the wings and walking to a counter with many menacing tools. “I’ve been told you are well-trained and will not disobey, however I do not care. All my subjects receive the same treatment. Come here.”  
Eros moved cautiously to the man, keeping a few feet of distance between them and looking over his shoulder to see a strange looking collar in the doctor’s hands. It was a thin metal collar with several flashing buttons on the outside next to a hook and had two prongs on the inside.  
“This is what will truly ensure you are obedient.” Devoly told Eros. “Those men like to try their own tactics to control something but even the most rebellious subjects cannot fight this.”  
Eros looked at it warily but didn’t protest as it was placed around his neck. The prongs dug painfully into his jugular and he wanted to reach up and adjust it but didn’t dare do so until the doctor turned his back. When the doctor turned back to the cabinet to pick up another object, Eros reached his hands up.  
Right when his hands made contact with the metal, Eros felt a huge shock of electricity course through his body and he fell to the ground in a writhing heap. The pain in his neck was unbelievable, it was as though a thousand needles had pierced him deeply all at once. His blood felt as if it was boiling and the pain caused his sight to blur into white. His ears were ringing and for several seconds he wondered if maybe he had just had a stroke and died. The jolt of electricity had only lasted a second or two but had poured enough electricity in his body that Eros couldn’t control his shaking limbs for a few minutes. His eyes were shut tightly against the pain but couldn’t stop the tears which spilled through them as he tried to take in shaky breaths of air.  
When he finally managed to open his eyes, Dr. Devoly was chuckling, looking down at Eros with merciless amusement in his eyes. “You won’t be able to move that collar unless you want to permanently damage your brain.” He told Eros. “I’m the only one who can remove it.”  
Eros looked away from him, still trying to catch his breath. “I’m sorry Sir, it won’t happen again.” He mumbled quietly.  
Dr. Devoly just smirked and turned back to the counter, picking up a needle and bringing it to the crook of Eros’ arm. He closed his eyes and flinched at the sharp sting of pain he felt as his blood was collected. When he felt the needle being removed, he opened his eyes again and tried to use his arms to push himself up off the floor but they felt like noodles and he couldn’t hold his weight on them so he just fell back to the floor.  
Eros couldn’t resist as several needles were then injected into his other arm. He didn’t have any idea what Devoly was doing, and the man didn’t care to share. After five needles in total had been injected into him, Eros finally began to gain more control of his limbs.  
“Stand up.” Devoly ordered, watching as Eros pushed himself up with still shaky limbs. “I want you to walk instead of crawl, build up some more muscle.” He explained briefly.  
Eros just nodded.  
“Now you are going to follow me.” Devoly told him. “And don’t try anything else. All I need to do to hurt you again is talk through this device.” He pointed to what looked like a small black watch on his wrist.  
Eros didn’t feel like telling the man that he had no intention of trying anything. Even if he hadn’t of had this device around his neck, he knew that he would be stopped easily. Instead of telling him this, Eros just walked after the man outside of the room and down an empty corridor. At the end of it were double-doors leading to another a three-direction corridor with several windows similar to the ones in the room Eros had been in.  
Eros felt horror pierce his stomach at what he saw and it took all his strength not to scream.  
Through each window was a room holding a person in it. The doctor walked through the corridor to the right without a pause and Eros followed after a few seconds of being frozen, looking through each window at the poor people inside. Most looked like normal people, minus the signs of torture littering their bodies, but some didn’t look human.  
Each person was completely naked, had no body hair, and had the same collar around their throat that Eros had.  
One woman had what looked like a wolf tail coming from her tailbone along with a pair of large ears which had been placed where normal human ears would have been. She was curled up in the corner of her room and flinched when she saw Dr. Devoly. Her eyes were filled with terror, as were the other people Eros saw.  
One man had no arms, and another, no legs. Someone of an unknown sex had eyes which were completely black, and skin which was white as the snow Eros hadn’t seen in years. Two young men who couldn’t have been more than twenty were conjoined together through their side and were trying to crawl away from a man who was whipping them. They couldn’t coordinate their limbs together effectively to get away and kept falling over.  
Eros retched and looked away from the windows, feeling terror over what Dr. Devoly was planning on doing to him. His own experiences of horror were nothing in comparison to this. These people were innocent. He felt weak and barely managed to put one foot in front of the other and felt relieved when they made it to the end of the corridor.  
Through the doors was a room made entirely of gray tiles and a guard was in the room waiting for them.  
“Wash it up and then take it back to its room.” Dr. Devoly ordered the man, turning to go and then pausing. “But don’t shave its hair.” He added before he left.  
When Dr. Devoly was finally gone, Eros felt bile rise in his throat and he couldn’t stop it from exiting his mouth, onto the floor. He fell weakly to his knees and held his stomach as burning stomach acid came up and he coughed harshly. After a minute or so, he peered up through blurry eyes at the man who had been ordered to clean him up.  
The man’s eyes were completely devoid of emotion other than disgust and annoyance. He stepped forward and grabbed Eros by his throat, making him croak briefly in quiet protest before he was forced to stand and dragged over to a wall with a metal bar that was about five feet off the floor, parallel to the ground. The man pulled a chain out one of his pockets without a word and connected it to the pole, and then to the hook on Eros’ collar.  
The wall was the only thing that stopped Eros from falling down once the man’s grip left him. The man walked to the other side of the room and pulled a hose out of the wall, pulling it until he was about six feet away from Eros. He pulled a trigger on it and Eros gasped as freezing cold water was sprayed hard in his face. He turned his back to the water and tried to stop the frigid spray from touching his stinging hips but the guard just came forward and held Eros still by his throat as he brought the hose to every nook and cranny.  
One of the more enjoyable characteristics of the island was that the weather was generally mild and Eros rarely had to experience the cold. He was definitely not used to this stinging temperature and he quickly turned numb and fell to the freezing floor. The guard just used this to his advantage and washed his hair before turning off the water.  
Although the guard ordered Eros to stand after undoing the chain connecting him to the shower pole, Eros’ body didn’t move other than the tremors that shook him uncontrollably. With an annoyed grunt, the guard picked him up and carried his wet body to another corner of the room where he dried Eros off roughly with a coarse towel. Instead of trying to get Eros to walk again afterwards, the guard just hoisted him over his shoulder and carried him outside.  
Eros felt exhaustion wash over him as the guard walked through the corridor. He felt too cold and weak to even muster up disgust as his eyes passed over each of the cells. The tiredness that seeped into his bones spread to his eyes and Eros closed them, but before he did, he could have sworn he saw a familiar face in one of the cells.


	14. Chapter 14

Eros awoke as he heard the sound of the door to the lab opening. He pressed his hands against the unfamiliar padded floor of his new cell and pushed his body up so he was kneeling on all fours and could look through the observation window. Entering the lab door, was a complete stranger, and she was huge. She must have been over six feet tall with muscles that bulged through her gray v-neck and black workout tights. Her skin was a warm olive color and her long black hair fell down her back in a tight braid which went down to her hips.  
There was no sign of a collar around her neck which meant she was a guard, and an enemy to Eros. She crossed the lab with only a few steps of her long legs, and opened the door to Eros’ cell, he couldn’t tell if it was via a passcode or some form of identification. Her massive figure filled the doorway and she looked down at Eros with cold dark brown eyes. When her eyes sharpened threateningly, Eros quickly moved his gaze back to the padded floor.  
“Get up and follow me.” She ordered him briefly in a terrifyingly monotone voice.  
Eros clumsily pushed himself off the floor to his feet and obeyed the order, keeping a few feet between himself and her as they walked past the lab and outside the door leading to the corridor. He kept his gaze down as they walked down the empty corridor and back through the three-way divide he had gone yesterday to shower. Although he didn’t look at the poor creatures in the cells, he could still hear whimpers and a few agonized wails.   
After five years spent with some of the most depraved beings he ever had the misfortune of running into, Eros had never expected to come upon victims of more evil people. The fact was, that whoever was on the dealing end of the torture and experimentaion didn’t see the people in the cells as humans. Even animals were better treated in most places for the most part. The similarity between the guards here and the guards at the shack was that they believed that they owned another’s body. That somehow being more powerful meant that they had the right to control someone’s actions, thoughts, feelings, and nothing brought them more joy than crushing the soul of their victim into dust.   
Being able to see people receiving even worse treatment than Eros had, he felt even more disgust at his own weakness and passiveness. He could have gotten help for these people if he had just acted sooner. They could be safe and taken care of or might of never even been forced here if it weren’t for Eros.  
Eros felt his anger deflate into self loathing as he realized this. At first, being the cause for the other men at the shack to undergo what he had experienced was manageable. Eros had become used to what he was, and because his life was normal to him, he wasn’t able to truly think of anyone besides himself. Being here, he realized that at the shack, he at least had some value to the guards. Sure, his role could be summarized in a few titles: whore, slut, bitch, slave, cocksucker, or anything else along those lines, but here he was just an ‘It’. To Doctor Devoly and the guards here, he was just something to be poked and prodded until it screamed and they could write down their observations without the slightest feeling. Here there weren't even the slightest remains of humanity.  
There wasn’t even fear in Eros for the pain to come, he just felt so tired although he had barely woken up from what felt like a long sleep. He knew that there wasn’t anything he could do to stop what was going to happen to him, let alone the others who were experimentations. Instead, he just followed the guard as she walked down the middle corridor and led him through a glass door into a room filled with various equipment.  
It was mostly weights of different shapes, sizes, and kilos, but there were a few machines for cardio, some metal boards with straps on them hooked up to electronic machines, and a small kitchen area. The guard led him to the middle of the room which was an empty space before stopping and facing him.  
“I am going to be preparing you before your operations begin in order to ensure the most successful transition.” She told Eros monotonously. “If I give you permission to address me, you will only refer to me as ‘Trainer’. Is that understood?”  
“Yes Trainer.” Eros said quietly, his eyes focused on his bare feet.  
Without a word, Trainer turned away and picked up two small dumbells which weighed two kilos each. She walked back to Eros before she spoke again.  
“I am going to show you your exercises you will perform every other session for your arms and back. During your next session, you will learn exercises for your legs and then core, back, and so on. Understood?”  
“Yes Trainer.”  
She then placed her hands at her sides before lifting the weight upward until her body was positioned like a T. She held the position for a few seconds before bringing her arms back down and repeated the motion a few times.  
“You will perform three sets with fifteen reps for each exercise unless instructed otherwise.” Trainer told Eros as he watched the motion carefully.  
Then she handed Eros the weights and told him to begin. He went through the motions carefully and couldn’t help but feel happy to be moving his muscles again, even under the circumstances. Although two kilos seemed like nothing to Eros when he first started, his arms and shoulders were weak and began to burn by the end of his first set. He had forgotten how good it had felt to workout.  
By the end of the third and final set, Eros’ arms were shaking and he felt the beginning of a sweat breaking out on him but he looked forward to the next exercise. He was shown a few more and performed each one for what felt like an hour until he felt as though his arms were going to fall off and he was moved to a treadmill instead. Although he had been allowed to walk, although minimal amounts, back at the shack, Eros felt his legs and lungs burning after Trainer turned the speed up to a decent speed walking pace. After half an hour of being on the treadmill, Trainer turned off the machine and led him to the kitchen where a glass of a horrid mixture was waiting.  
“Drink it.” She gestured to the glass and Eros eyed it suspiciously before lifting it in his hand.  
It definitely didn’t look like anything he wanted to drink, especially after working out but Eros had no choice as he lifted the brownish-green sludge which looked as if it had curdled to his mouth and planned to down the mixture quickly. However the plan was thwarted as Eros was met with what must have been the worst tasting thing he had ever had in his mouth, and he had eaten a severed finger before.  
The mixture managed to be sour and yet powerfully bitter which immediately struck the back of Eros’ throat and made him gag. His whole mouth burned and he struggled to swallow just the first gulp as the sting spread from his lips all the way down his throat, following whatever little had made it down. The texture was akin to what Eros believed grounded sponge would be like, but somehow it was a liquid.  
Tears burned Eros’ eyes as he coughed the mixture that was in his mouth, back into the cup. His body shuddered and convulsed as he did his best to avoid throwing up and made the mistake of looking into Trainer’s eyes as his own tried to blink away the tears.  
Her eyes were narrowed and she looked a second away from beating Eros, something he knew would easily break all the bones in his body. He managed to muster up enough self-perseverance to force himself to stop coughing and he looked down at the horrid mixture again. She seemed to sense his hesitance and gave him a warning.  
“Either you drink all of it, or it will get into you through a needle.” She told him monotonously.  
Eros almost thought that getting a needle would be better than this but he was now mostly worried about upsetting the trainer so he gulped once and closed his eyes before tilting the glass into his mouth and down his throat.  
It only took a few more large gulps but Eros gasped when he was finished and shuddered as he felt the drink slide slowly down his throat. The Trainer watched as Eros rubbed his chest uncomfortably before she took the glass and set it on the counter. Then she ordered Eros to follow her again as she left the room and they moved down the corridor, turning towards the showers. There was a different guard stationed inside who washed Eros of his sweat with freezing water before Eros was led back to the training room.  
Trainer ordered him to lie on his stomach on one of the tables and at this point, there was a strange chill covering his body which wasn’t from the cold water temperature. He didn’t show his discomfort however as he laid down and felt Trainer strapping his wrists and ankles to the table. Eros heard Trainer walk a few feet away and press several buttons on a machine before walking back to him.   
By now, the sting which had been in his mouth from the mixture had begun to spread throughout his whole body. Eros began to squirm as Trainer returned and pressed several sticky pads to his back and turned the machine on which sent a dull course of electricity through his body. It wasn’t painful, nothing like the agony of his collar shocking him yesterday, but combined with the chills and stinging, he felt extreme discomfort which made him want to escape the bed.  
Eros flinched as Trainer’s hands touched his back and he forced himself to relax after she began to massage his already-sore muscles. The sting in his body seemed to pass throughout each part of him but lingered in spots which were sore.  
Eros sucked in his breath at the overwhelming sensations occurring throughout his body, the intense cold had his body more freezing than it ever had been. He turned his head up to his restrained wrists and looked at his fingers, he almost expected them to be purple or blue but they looked completely normal. He felt as though his blood had been turned to ice and the stinging in his sore muscles didn’t help.  
The stinging felt as though tiny needles were being stuck into him specifically where his muscles were sore. Although it wasn’t awfully pain inducing, it still added to the symphony of strange sensations occurring in Eros’ body. The massage the trainer was giving him at first just seemed to help dissipate the cold wherever she touched but Eros was shocked that after she got to a spot, any sensation in the muscles were gone.  
The massage continued for a while and by the time Trainer released him from the bed, Eros felt as though he had completely recovered from the workout. He was confused and wanted to ask about the strange treatment, specifically about whatever he had drunk, but before he opened his mouth to speak he remembered Trainer’s ‘no-talking’ rule. Instead, Eros kept quiet and was once again led through the halls of horrors back to his room.  
Trainer left him in his cell for only a few minutes before she returned with a tray holding what seemed to be food. Eros’ stomach clenched at the thought of getting anything else that fucked with his body but when the tray was lowered to the ground it seemed to be a completely normal meal. There was a small pile of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and even a glass of orange juice which made Eros’ mouth begin to drool uncontrollably. He knew better than to eat without permission though so he didn’t even touch any of it, just waited for Trainer’s orders. He hoped he would get to eat all of it.  
“Drink this completely, then you can eat.” Trainer handed him a bottle which seemed to hold yet another brown and thick liquid.  
Eros’ stomach dropped at the mere idea of having to drink another horrifying concoction. If he drank another one before the meal, he was surely going to throw it all up and then nothing would be in his system. Maybe going without meals like he had at the shack was better than getting food here and Eros wished he could simply refuse to eat. But he could feel Trainer’s eyes on him and Eros decided to drink the liquid rather than face her wrath.  
He brought the bottle to his lips more hesitantly than he should have and couldn’t help but smell it.  
Peanut butter! Eros pulled away from the bottle and looked at Trainer in surprise before he brought the bottle to his lips again and took a quick gulp.  
It tasted just like a protein shake, a little bit thick and not necessarily appealing, however Eros would take any protein shake over whatever he had drunk in the workout room earlier. He drank the whole bottle quickly before he began eating the food, trying to stop himself from just shoveling all the food into his mouth at once. This food tasted better than anything he had eaten for a very long time and Eros wanted to both relish it slowly, savoring each bite, but he also felt desperation to just get all the food inside of him he could before it was taken away.  
At the shack, if he didn’t eat fast enough for the guards, they would take it from him and Eros couldn't stand the thought of that happening to him now. To his surprise, he was allowed to eat the full tray and he drank the whole glass of orange juice which settled happily in his stomach with every other delicious food item. Eros hadn’t actually been full in years. Once or twice he had been forced to eat until he vomited, but this was nothing like that. The sensation was almost foreign, his stomach felt uncomfortably bloated and Eros looked down, almost expecting to see a lump in his stomach, instead, he simply saw his own protruding ribcage.  
“I will be back in a few hours for the next session.” Trainer told Eros and took his empty dishes out with her.  
Eros watched her leave before turning his gaze to the wings which were perfectly in his eyesight. After seeing what had been done to all of the other victims here, he wondered what would be happening with those. They were beautiful, yes, but Eros never thought that any part of an animal looked its best unless it was on its owner, fully intact. That’s why he had never had any birds stuffed or taken feathers unless they dropped even from the most beautiful birds he had seen. It just made them seem more menacing the more he thought about the lives of the countless birds raised here for the purpose of harvesting a pair of wings to display.   
Eros turned away from the wings and occupied himself with daydreams of the Navy SEALs escaping and coming to rescue him. He pictured Daniel bursting through the door at any second with Devin and all the others behind them. They had no major injuries, just small cuts and bruises, and their eyes were filled with the same fiery courage they had when they first came to the island.  
They destroyed the lab, killing every guard that was there and helped each prisoner escape before they were able to fly back to Eros’ home. Everyone was cared for and returned to their families. He was able to walk, eat, and sleep on his own time. And even in a bed.  
With Daniel.  
Daniel’s arms wrapped around his waist. Eros could feel his breath brushing softly past his neck in steady succession. Eros closed his eyes and basked in the sensations Daniel brought him. He felt so safe in his arms which were back to how strong they once were. No one would be able to get to Eros while he stayed here. When Daniel shifted, Eros could feel his muscles ripple against his back and he unconsciously bit his lip, feeling surprisingly aroused from the power which seeped from Daniel even in his sleep.  
Part of him wanted to stay still and live in this moment for as long as possible. To embrace the feelings of safety and belonging that wrapped around him just like the warm blankets on the bed he was lying on. But the other part of him wanted even more from this situation. He wanted to feel more than Daniel’s arms wrapped around him.  
“Mornin’ beautiful.” Daniel’s voice was husky from sleeping as he gave Eros a gentle peck on the neck.  
The feeling of Daniel’s lips on his neck made Eros shiver in quiet delight before he turned to face him.  
“I still can’t believe I get to see your eyes first thing in the morning.” Daniel told Eros with a slight smile.  
“I can’t even believe you are here right now.” Eros murmed.  
“There’s no place I would rather be.” Daniel shocked him by leaning in and taking Eros’ lips in his.  
Eros expected to feel fear or disgust but all he felt was joy. Daniel’s lips were soft and somehow managed to still taste like fresh mint as they pressed to Eros’. Just this little action somehow seemed to discard some of the self-loathing Eros had and he almost felt worthy of touching someone in a way that was not just sexual, but actually loving. He felt completely calm and blissful.  
He could have stayed there forever, embracing Daniel in peace, but the kiss was just a sweet little peck, still it made Eros’ heart soar as he looked at Daniel in amazement. It seemed to be something Daniel had done many times but Eros couldn’t remember if this was their first kiss or not. He couldn’t even remember where he was.  
“Daniel?” Eros asked suddenly, looking around the empty room in confusion for anything familiar. “Where ar-”  
“Subject session commencing in five minutes.”  
Eros jolted awake from the loud announcement coming from speakers he couldn’t even see in the cell he was in. He couldn’t even remember ever falling asleep, he had only been awake for a few hours previously, it seemed like too short a length to require a nap.  
That’s right Eros thought in disappointment. I’m still their experiment, and Daniel is still a prisoner. It was just a dream.


	15. Chapter 15

Eros’ began to understand the new routine which he held onto for the comforting feeling of familiarity. With nothing better to do after being returned to his cell but not feeling tired enough to sleep, Eros counted the hours, minutes, and seconds between his break and the next session for exercising. Although the margin of error could have been large due to the only tool he had being his thoughts, he tried a few times and got around six hours each time.  
Any time outside of the large laboratory Eros was in was irrelevant to his new schedule. At some undisclosed time, he would be taken from his cell to workout for about an hour before he would be showered. Then Trainer would perform the same awful "treatment" which brought him extreme discomfort. The electricity and massage after drinking the strange mixture whose purpose Eros still didn’t understand had become familiar, yes, but never comfortable.  
Despite the discomfort, it seemed to be helping Eros progress faster in his athletic abilities than he ever had before. Here, his soreness would come on strong after exercising but disappear after the treatment so he could exercise the same muscles every other session. The weights he used quickly grew heavier and a new exercise would replace an old one which had become too easy for Eros. He could feel his muscles returning and Eros admired the lean look he quickly gained after what felt like only a week or two. He felt surprisingly good physically, and it helped him mentally as well.  
His responsibilities of taking cock or other tortures without complaint had been replaced with nothing more than exercise, and nothing he had to experience here was close to torture. Most of the marks on his skin which had been reminders of his previous place on the island disappeared quickly now that he was eating and drinking enough for a normal human. The orders he was given were to simply be quiet, be obedient, and to walk rather than crawl. Previously, any form of exercise had come into existence only due to some game created by Nico, and the torture part of the game overshadowed any pleasure Eros could have gotten from being able to move. But now, Eros spent a few hours a day exercising without any negative repercussions for doing so.  
When he wasn’t exercising, Eros was in his cell and it would remind him that he shouldn’t be pleased about anything occurring here. The strength he was gaining wasn’t for him, but to ensure that Dr. Devoly’s experiment would be successful. His body was still owned by another and he still had no control over what he could do. Mostly he slept while he was in his cell, and he was either wracked with nightmares of grotesque experimentation or comforted by dreams of freedom and of Daniel.  
He wasn't sure why Daniel stood out to him as much as he did. The majority of Daniel's words to him were either "Fuck off", or "Don't talk to me" when he had first come to Eros. He looked at Eros the same way he looked at any of the guards: Anger and disgust. However, over time, Daniel softened as he realized that Eros was just another victim to the situation he and his men were also facing. Or at least “softened” as much as a tough, disciplined, muscular, special operation sailor could be. Eros had been able to comfort Daniel and the others and although they refused to show it helped them when Eros sang to them or told stories, he could see it in their subtle body language.  
And in turn, Daniel had comforted Eros, something that nobody had done for five years. He wasn't great at it, no, and he still tried to pretend he didn't care as much as he did, but Eros found it incredibly endearing. He also remembered how Daniel had spoken to him when his guard was down due to his fever. "Your eyes are beautiful" is what he had said. The words were simple and kind but the way Daniel had looked at Eros with unrestrained awe in his eyes is what Eros remembered the most. It was what made his heart ache to see him again and talk to him.  
If Tyler obeyed the guards well enough, he would be allowed to work in the kitchen without supervision in a year or so. Eros knew Tyler wouldn't break as easily as Eros had so hopefully Tyler would have enough courage to search for the keys and unchain all the other men. Then they could escape the island. Somehow.   
Eros' knowledge of the guards had mostly acted as a shackle on the hopes of the prisoners, he saw a potential problem with any idea. With him gone, they would hopefully be able to come up with an escape plan. With any luck, they could escape a month after Tyler was free from supervision, then it would take a few months to return home and get a mission approved to come back for the victims of the experimentation.  
A year and a half to be free at the earliest.  
That simultaneously felt too far away for Eros to survive and also too close for Eros to cope with the idea of acclimating to a normal life. Eros had no idea how he could survive long enough for someone to rescue him.  
Eros was jolted out of his thoughts as the door to the lab was opened and Dr. Devoly walked in. Eros hadn't seen him since the first day he was brought here and dreaded what seeing him now meant. He still wore a suit and his yellow-tinted glasses which seemed out of place in a laboratory and made him look pretentious.  
Eros had finished his meal hours ago and was expecting another exercise session soon but Devoly seemed to have other plans. Instead of acknowledging Eros, he began collecting several tools. None of them looked very harmful, most of them were items Eros was used to seeing at a normal check-up. Alongside the normal items were several syringes of various sizes and bottles of unknown substances. But Eros was used to needles at this point, Trainer gave him several shots a day with each meal.  
When Devoly was done retrieving and organizing all of his needed tools, he opened the door to Eros' cell.  
"Lie down on your back." He ordered, pointing to the table with straps on it.  
Eros complied, watching Devoly as he picked up a tool to look inside Eros' ears. The metal was cold as Devoly moved it around to check each of Eros' ears, he said nothing but scribbled down a few notes on his nearby notebook.  
Devoly checked Eros' heart rate, temperature, eyes, and examined some of his healing injuries before ordering him to lie on his stomach.  
"Now this will be easier if I don't have to restrain you, but if you can't manage the pain, I will have no trouble doing it." Devoly warned Eros as he turned around onto his stomach.  
There was a place for Eros to place his face in the bed and it stopped him from being able to see what Devoly was doing, all he could see was his feet as they stepped up to where Eros was laying. He flinched as Devoly's cold gloved hands made contact with his back but held as still as he could. He didn't know what Devoly thought would be so bad, it seemed like all he was doing was feeling Eros' developing muscles.  
The almost-comfortable sensation was quickly replaced. Eros felt a needle press into his left shoulder but the needle didn't just enter, Devoly pushed it in slowly until it was pressing into the bone itself. No needle should be anywhere near any bone in a person's body, but this one was digging into one. The pain was sharp and sent an intense burn through his bones.  
Not being able to handle it after only a second or two, Eros let out a cry of pain and desperately tried to escape Devoly's grip, trying to turn himself around and get off the bed but his body was immediately filled with electricity. Eros' collar burned and he went completely limp, the pain from the shock overwhelming any pain he could have felt from the needle in his back. Eros couldn't even tell if it was in his back anymore. His eyes could have been open or closed but all he saw was the blackness engulfing him.  
When the agony subsided long enough for Eros to take a breath deeper than just a gasp, he realized that his wrists and ankles had been restrained without him even feeling it. Finally he opened his eyes and blinked away the tears to see that Devoly's feet were still in the same spot but someone was next to him.  
"You did an adequate job." Devoly told the unknown person. "It's ready for the next step. You have one week."  
"Thank you Sir." That was Trainer's voice. "We will begin as soon as you are finished here."  
"Prepare the training room, I still need a few samples."  
"Yes Sir." Trainer's feet turned away from Eros and out of his limited vision so he turned his focus back to Devoly's feet.  
"You handled that quite poorly." Devoly chided Eros. "Luckily for you I was able to finish three injections while you were being restrained. Unluckily, that means you have to sit still for the last one."  
Eros gritted his teeth and tensed as he waited for wherever the needle was going to pierce him. He couldn't help but flinch when he felt Devoly's hand press to his right thigh.  
"Tensing your body will just make it hurt more. And it won't stop me." With that, Devoly plunged the needle into Eros' skin and way deeper into his thigh than anything should have. Eros bucked backwards on instinct as the needle struck his bone and let out a shriek of agony as Devoly seemingly pushed whatever had been in the needle into Eros' body. The needle was then quickly removed and Eros let out a mix of a relieved sigh and a sob.  
When Devoly undid the straps around Eros' ankles and wrists, he couldn't even move his body. He was shaking so hard his teeth chattered and his muscles felt too unstable to be able to move him anywhere. Eros couldn't even think past the pain which was still pounding in his right thigh, and now that he thought about it, the same crippling pain was in his other thigh and both shoulder blades.  
If Devoly had given Eros any orders, he didn't hear or follow them. All he could do was slowly move his body into a curled up position and grit his teeth as a wave of nausea passed over him. Eros retched once and the jolting movement sent a bolt of pain to each of the places he had had an injection in.  
After what felt like forever, the pain subsided suddenly and Eros was able to slowly open his eyes and sit up. When he looked around, he was surprised to see that the table had been rolled into his cell without his knowing and the lab was currently empty. Eros gingerly lifted his legs over the edge and placed them on the ground, slowly adding weight to them and expecting to feel sharp pain, but was met with nothing.  
The door to the lab opened and Trainer walked in. She opened the door to Eros' cell without a word and Eros followed her out. They took an unfamiliar route which avoided the other experiments and entered an observation room with a glass door leading to a huge almost completely empty room.  
Room was inadequate in describing the size, it was more like a warehouse. However, the pristine white color of the floor, walls, and ceiling didn't seem to match the description of “warehouse”, and neither did the fact that the entire room, just like Eros' cell was padded. There were several random items, the one which caught Eros’ attention the most was a length of wiring which went across the room and was connected to a harness as well as several thick pads along the floor.  
Eros looked through the windows while Trainer opened the door leading to the large room where someone Eros hadn't seen at first was standing. Their back was turned to him and Trainer which gave him the opportunity to gawk at what was on the person's back.  
No, they weren't just ON the person's back, they seemed to be coming OUT of them.  
It was a pair of wings similar to the ones in the laboratory outside of Eros' room, but they were a snowy white which faded into gray, and then black as the feathers got closer to the person's back. They seemed smaller, but that could have just been due to the fact that the wings were furled up to the person's back and not moving.  
Unlike the other experiments here, this one was actually wearing clothing, a dark gray, almost black padded bodysuit covered them almost completely. Their toes and fingers were covered as was their neck, but from their mid-back to neck, was an empty space to allow their wings to get through.  
Eros had almost missed Trainer's words, he was so startled by the creature in front of him.  
"Turn around."  
Eros assumed at first that the order was directed at him and he began to turn but the person in front of him turned first and he couldn't help but let out a choked sound of surprise.  
"Iman, Is that you?!"  
He knew that face anywhere and didn't even need her to say anything to confirm it although the brief recognition which flitted across her eyes was not lost on him. Eros was frozen for a split-second before all his training was forgotten and he ran forward and grabbed Iman around the neck in a tight hug. She did not hug him back and in seconds, Eros felt someone grab him roughly by his hair and yank him back.  
"No touching allowed." Trainer warned him with a glare but Ero just gaped at Iman.  
How is she even alive? He asked himself If she made it, then maybe the others did as well!  
He had to force his excitement down to stop himself from grabbing Iman in a hug again, something that would inevitably lead to punishment, which he had done so well in avoiding so far. He had spent the last five years blaming himself for the deaths of the five marines who he had been sent on his mission with and yet here was one of them right in front of him! He had definitely been closer with Anya and Derik than he had been with Iman but seeing any familiar face brought back the same feelings he had when he first joined the military. Just a bit of courage and strength went a long way in a place like this.  
"We have a problem." Eros jerked his head to look at Trainer who seemed to be talking to her naked wrist before looking up again.  
Within seconds, Devoly was entering the room. "What is it?"  
"They know each other." Trainer told him monotonously.  
"Why should I care?" Devoly asked her impatiently.  
"It could impact his training and obedience." Trainer's voice faltered at the end as Devoly gave her a murderous glare.  
"Last time I checked, I run this business." Devoly warned Trainer in a low voice. "I know what does and doesn't matter when it comes to training and I would be willing to teach you again since you seemed to have forgotten."  
Trainer's bearing had never broken in the slightest before but now, Eros could see the fear in her eyes as her eyebrows furrowed and mouth opened slightly in a silent protest. She stared at Devoly for a few seconds before she seemed to snap out of whatever thoughts she was having and shook her head.  
"Apologies Sir." She returned to her same monotone voice.  
"And you." Devoly turned to Eros. "Train hard, transformation begins in one week."  
With that, Devoly left the room, giving one last warning glare to Trainer who lowered her eyes.  
Eros looked back to Iman, she looked very different, but there was no doubt that this was the same woman he had worked with before. There were many differences, the most obvious being the wings which came out of her back, but Eros picked up the others the more he looked at her.  
Her eyes, which had once been a unique gray shade which made them almost seem dark purple, were now dull and void of any color. Her eyes were fixed on Eros but she didn't say or do anything. Just like the other subjects, her hair was shaved down completely to her dark mocha skin and she wore a collar around her neck. Her body looked different but the differences were harder to spot. She seemed shorter by a few inches but at the same time, her torso looked longer. She had once been a beautiful curvy woman with visible muscle but her body looked unnaturally petite with no visible fat and her muscles didn't seem to make her look any better.  
Another thing Eros noticed was the fact that Iman looked flat-chested. He hadn't ever paid much attention to women's breasts as he was attracted to men, who generally did not have any, but the difference was obvious. It wasn't just that they were smaller, it looked like she didn't have them anymore.  
It took Trainer a few seconds to recover her thoughts after Devoly left but when she did, she turned to Iman. "Begin the training." She told her before turning back to the observation room and closing the door behind her.  
Iman immediately turned and led Eros to one of the pads on the ground.  
"I'm going to teach you a few exercises to help you train after your transformation." She told him. Even her voice had changed. She had once had a thick Haitian accent and spoke loudly and excitedly. Now her accent was gone and she spoke monotonously like Trainer.  
Instead of saying anything about it, Eros just watched as Iman sprinted to the pad and dove into a somersault. Her wings were tucked tight against her body as her curled body rolled before she came to a crouched stop.  
"Your turn."  
Eros did it a few times, it was pretty easy and he wondered why he needed to practice it as much as he did. Iman taught him another seemingly random exercise: he would sprint about ten feet before jumping as high in the air as he could and dive forward. He did this easily as well and tried to talk to Iman a few times, asking her why he needed to learn such a movement and what was going to happen to him but she never responded.  
It was strange, the more Eros looked at Iman's wings, the more normal they seemed to him. She never unfurled them or used them for anything, and Eros began to wonder if they served any purpose other than being on her. Maybe she couldn't even move them, Eros couldn't see how or why they were on her and he wondered what Dr. Devoly had planned for him if he could do something like this.  
Next, Iman connected herself to the harness on the wire system. She sprinted while connected before jumping up into the air and diving forward. She held her body parallel to the floor as the harness took her up the wire with the momentum for several seconds and she crossed about twenty feet. The wire went up before going down sharply and at this point, Iman reached her hand up the harness and clicked a button. This disconnected the harness from the wire and she dove at the ground, landing with a smooth somersault.  
Eros was once again confused. What was the point of transferring the two exercises he had just done to a random zipline system? However, Eros pushed down his confusion and let Iman connect him to the harness so he could try out the same movements.  
He took a step forward and used it to jump forward into a sprint. When he felt he had enough speed behind him, he jumped and dove forward. He tried to hold his body parallel to the ground but his lower half was too heavy and it came back down. Instead of making it over the wire as it went upward, Eros began sliding backwards. When he could touch the ground again he disconnected himself from the wire and returned to the beginning to try again.  
He practiced until sweat was dripping down his face and the harness was leaving an angry red rash on his legs and bum. He had gotten to the point where he could balance his body parallel to the ground but he still couldn't make it over the incline on the wire. He didn't understand what was different between him and Iman, he thought he was running faster than her and he could jump higher because he was taller.  
He was determined to make it over the incline but before he could try again, Iman stopped him.  
"We will come back to this after a break." She told him.  
Eros forgot his obedience for a second and braced to try again against orders but stopped when he saw Iman's body tense to stop him and he remembered where he was. Iman gave him a warning look and he eyed the course once before letting out a quiet sigh, disconnecting himself from the harness and following Iman.  
Inside the observation room Devoly was sitting with Trainer waiting for him. Eros must have been so focused on training that he hadn't noticed when Devoly started watching him. Eros had to force down the small amount of freedom he had felt while working on the zipline in exchange for submission which fell over him while in Devoly's presence.  
"I expect you want to know what my plans are for you." Devoly told Eros who did his best to keep any emotion off his face despite the excitement brewing in his chest. Finally he would get an answer! Eros gave Devoly a small nod.  
"Speak!"  
"Yes Sir, I do." Eros spoke quietly, making sure he kept his head and eyes down.  
"Well generally I don't tell my subjects my plans for them because it is a waste of my time." Devoly paused and Eros did his best to hide his disappointment. "But." Devoly continued. "It has helped some get through their transformation easier if they know my plans for them."  
"I trust you can see some of the differences in your friend over here." Devoly pointed to Iman and Eros nodded. "Well you have the same fate in store for you my little bird."  
Eros' heart dropped in his chest and he froze, looking to Iman and trying to process Devoly's words.  
I'm going to be a... I'm going to have... Wings?  
Devoly was going to mutilate Eros' body and turn him into an unnatural creature to serve an unknown purpose. The fact that Eros was nothing more than a lab rat hit him hard.  
He tried to say something but all that came out was a strangled whimper. Eros suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe and his muscles weakened. His knees buckled but before he could hit the hard ground, he felt someone catch him.  
"Eros, you're okay. Just breathe, I've got you." There was finally an emotion on Iman's face as she looked down at Eros with concern. Eros had to repeat her words in his head as his eyes searched her face frantically and he finally let in a large shaky gasp to fill his aching lungs.  
"Good. Now let it out and repeat."  
Eros followed Iman's level instructions and by the time he had calmed down, any trace of emotion on her face was gone and he wondered if he had seen it in the first place. When he looked around, he saw that he had collapsed to the floor but he was laying across Iman's lap, his head held to her chest where he could feel her heart beating slowly and steadily.   
Dr. Devoly and Trainer were watching them with the same bored expression from where they stood but said nothing while Eros recovered from his panic attack.  
"It can explain the rest of the changes I made to its body as well as my plans for you." Devoly gestured to Iman shortly before exiting the room.  
Eros thanked Iman quietly before he got to his feet shakily. Trainer ordered him to follow her and Eros gave Iman one last look before following. He was taken to be showered and given the post-workout treatment before he was returned to his cell and the whole time all he could think about was what Devoly planned on doing to his body.  
He thought that he would simply be sold to some pervert who was interested in a sex slave. Eros had obviously known that Devoly experimented on people but considering Eros' previous use for the guards, he thought that whatever Devoly changed about Eros would serve the purpose of increasing Eros' ability to pleasure others. Adding wings to him though? That wouldn't help him pleasure anyone.  
And wings wouldn't do anything either. Even if Devoly had found a way to make it so Eros could move them, they wouldn't be able to make him fly, human's bodies were too heavy and built for things besides flight.  
But why would Devoly spend years breeding hundreds of condors like he said he did just to decorate someone?  
He would ask Iman next time he saw her he decided.  
For now, Eros could do nothing but wait and try to rest. He ate the food Trainer brought him and curled up on the floor of his cell, closing his eyes to calm his racing mind and thoughts. Everything was happening so fast. Just a few weeks ago he had lived seeing the same men everyday and the only changes to his day were new and painful forms of creative torture.  
But in the last few weeks he had realized there were many more people on this island who would get in the way of any hope for escape and had met some men who had been forced to join Eros in his daily horrors. He had seen men die, and had his submission forced to the side just enough for Eros to try for escape. And not just for himself this time.  
Then just as fast as Eros met the men, he was taken from them and forced into another kind of hell. Here, grotesque body parts on poor victims had become a normal sight to Eros and he had discovered that the same thing would be forced upon him.  
Sleeping is definitely not going to be an option!


	16. Chapter 16

When Eros was taken back to the training room, he tried his best to focus on Iman teaching him more movements which seemed just as random as the movements from the last session but his mind was still running faster than he could keep up. After having to repeat herself twice on how Eros could work on getting over the upwards part on the zipline, she let out an almost inaudible frustrated sigh.  
"You weren't ever this bad before." She told him.  
Eros was brought out of his thoughts and gave her a curious stare.  
"Before what?"  
Iman gestured to the room around them and to her body. "Before this."  
"I couldn't tell if you even remembered any of it." Eros admitted.  
"It's still me up here. Just as it's still you up there." Iman told him.  
Eros felt slight relief from that. Obviously what Iman had experienced would change her, but part of him had wondered if it was even her in front of him. But knowing she was still there helped calm Eros down enough to focus on another explanation of how to adjust his movement to make it over the zipline.  
Each time he ran, he tried to move forward faster and jump higher. He held his body tightly parallel to the floor but every time, he slid backwards and couldn't make it up. His frustration built up after each failed attempt until his muscles were tense and his form worsened. He had been doing it just as Iman had told him to and it hadn't worked, he had no idea what he was doing wrong.  
"You're doing fine. Just take a quick break and we can come back to this." Iman told him calmly after Eros almost broke the harness off the zipline.  
Immediately Eros whirled on her. "That's not going to change anything!" He snapped. "I've done exactly as you've told me and it hasn't helped at all. I'm not strong enough to get over it!"  
His raised voice must have gotten Trainer's attention who emerged from the observation room and crossed her arms. "You've forgotten your place. Either calm down, or I will make you calm down." She warned Eros with a glare.  
Eros' own glare melted away and he looked to the ground, his frustration shifting into self-loathing. Not only did he lose his temper over something meaningless which caused him to shout at the only person here who had any positive connection to him, but all it took from someone else to beat him back into submission was a risen voice.  
"We're fine." Iman told Trainer quietly. Trainer stayed where she was for a second or two before returning to the observation room without a word. When the door closed, Iman turned to Eros.  
"You are strong Eros." She told him, making him blink in surprise. "It's not your fault you're in this position. You will make it out of this struggle, I am going to make sure of it. I'm right here to help you." For some reason, Eros didn't think she was just talking about the exercise he was struggling with.  
He wanted to ask her if there was any way out of this but he already knew there wasn't. He didn't know how she was still sane after being here for so long and likely seeing horrors Eros couldn't even imagine. Sure, she wasn't like she used to be, but that would have been impossible. But still, she was alive, and trying to help Eros. He wanted to be strong like her.  
"Can you tell me what they're going to do to me?" Eros asked her eventually.  
Iman glanced behind her before looking back to Eros. "I was told to provide you with information on your transformation." Eros looked expectantly at her.  
"To start out, the doctor wants you to be the final specimen for this particular experimental transformation. He wishes to present you to some of his clients to demonstrate the possibilities he sees in the product he deals in. He believes that if they are impressed enough, his clients may begin to provide more support for some of his more controversial ideas."  
"I was one of the successes for this particular transformation. I trained each of the successes after me until the doctor was able to perfect his process." She told Eros.  
"What do you train the successes in, after their transformation?" Eros asked. He had assumed the training was only to prepare each person for a successful surgery and nothing more.  
"To use their wings."  
Eros just stared at her with disbelief. "That's impossible." He stated. "Human bodies are completely unsuited for flight."  
"You are right. But there is more to the surgery than just connecting the muscle tissue of the wings into the tissue in your body." Iman told him. "The first thing he will change in your body is your bones. The bones of birds are hollow, this makes them break more easily but it also makes them lighter. The doctor is going to hollow out your bones and line them in an ultra-light support which is actually stronger than human bones."  
"He will also remove all unessential organs and tissues from your body besides your testicles and penis. He wants you to be appealing, so appearance will matter to him for once."  
Eros felt sick to his stomach and looked at Iman's body. "Is that what they did to you?"  
"All unessential parts. Including my breasts, uterus, and ovaries." Iman spoke evenly but Eros didn't feel the same calm.  
"But why?" He pressed.  
"To remove all the weight that is not-"  
"No, I mean why are they doing this." Eros interrupted, gesturing to her back. "Why are they changing people's bodies?"  
"The doctor took an interest in the changes he could make to human bodies and found people who support his work." Iman told him simply.  
Eros rubbed his arms to fight against the chill he suddenly felt growing around him.   
"Do you want me to stop?" Iman asked after Eros was silent for a few minutes.  
"No." He sighed. "Please tell me everything."   
"Many of your bones will be shaved down, including your hip bones and shoulder blades. Your floating ribs will be removed. The doctor will make adjustments to your lungs to match what allows birds to breathe while flying and that will include adding additional air sacks."  
"He will remove all non-essential fat and adjust any muscles to create the perfect ratio allowing normal body function and flight capabilities. Your femurs and calves will also be shortened."   
Eros had noticed that Iman's body had seemingly changed tremendously besides the wings on her back. She was shorter, more petit, and she must have been lighter.  
"You can make it over the zipline incline because you are lighter." Eros realized suddenly.  
"Yes. I would have told you but I wasn't sure if you wanted to know about everything involved in the surgery." She told Eros.  
He cocked his head. "The surgery? As in only one?"  
Iman nodded her head slightly. "In order to meet his timeline, the doctor is planning on making all of these changes at once. He has done it many times before."  
Eros rubbed his neck, trying to take it all in at once. In a week he was going to be something completely different. Still human he supposed, but barely.  
"So." He drew out. "You can actually move those wings?"  
"I can." Eros looked at them skeptically with a raised eyebrow.  
"Can you show me?" He asked.  
Iman hesitated before replying. "I suppose I can."  
He watched her take a few steps away and stared as the wings on her back shifted. He thought maybe it was from air blowing but they were nowhere near any vent. The wings didn't just twitch however, they unfurled completely to almost their entire length. Eros' eyes widened and he opened his mouth but couldn't speak.  
Iman crouched down before taking off at a sprint and jumping into the air. Her wings moved up and down, catching her before she fell to the ground and after a few more strokes she was in the air. It was quite surreal to see a human up in the air not attached to anything, it was almost beautiful. Iman glided in the air smoothly and turned herself around, angling her wings so she could come back to the ground, dropping to her feet and sprinting once again to keep up with the speed of the landing.  
Eros didn't say anything even after she turned around, he just stared at her in amazement. He wanted to be horrified, but all he could think of was that he could maybe be able to do the same thing soon. His mouth was still agape and Iman had to walk over and use her hand to push it shut.  
"Careful there, you definitely wouldn't want to fly with your mouth open unless you want to catch bugs." She joked. Her eyes were gleaming and Iman actually looked like herself for a second. That brought Eros out of his shock and he grabbed Iman in a tight hug, hearing her give a little noise of surprise.  
"I'm so sorry." Eros choked out. "If I had just been more careful, you wouldn't be in this situation. I could have gotten help for you. For all of you but I-"  
Iman cut him off. "Eros, do not blame yourself for any of this. Nobody could have predicted what was going to happen. You followed orders. We all followed orders."  
"Are the others..." Eros almost said 'well', but decided against it. "Are the others alive?"  
"No." Iman told him shortly and Eros couldn't stop the sob that left his throat. His body shook as he held onto Iman for some comfort and she surprised him by returning the hug. This made him cry harder and he could feel his tears trailing down his cheeks before falling onto Iman's wings.  
He thought of the stars above and where his friends might be right now. He hoped they were content, that they would be able to look upon their families and protect them. Maybe they were the ones who were cursing Eros. After all it was his fault they would no longer get to see their loved ones.  
Anya had been considering proposing to her boyfriend when she got home again. They had been dating for almost six years when she was deployed again and she kept saying after each deployment that she would propose but everyone knew she loved her work too much.  
Derik didn't have a partner, although he and Eros may have kissed once or twice when they had gotten drunk together. But he had a loving family, he had received multiple calls every night that had the rest of his crew teasing him endlessly.  
Bobo had actually been waiting anxiously for the birth of his first child before they came to this island. He would never get to hold that child even if he was blessed with being able to see them.  
Joseph had been the most quiet of the group but he had plenty of close friends who depended on his support.  
And now they were all gone.  
"Eros we have to be careful. There may not be recorders in these collars but they can hear us talk everywhere." Iman warned him quietly.  
Eros nodded and tried to contain his sobs, settling for quiet gasps as he held onto Iman until he calmed down enough to pull away.  
Soon after, Eros was taken to be showered, given the muscle treatment, and returned to his room with food to eat. As usual, Trainer said nothing to him and Eros wondered who she was. She didn't have a control collar on her, but she didn't seem to be in any position of authority considering the way Dr. Devoly treated her. Or maybe he used fear to control everyone around him.  
For the first time since he was taken by Devoly, Eros meditated and prayed for a long time. He hoped and prayed for the strength to make it through this. Iman had said she was going to help him and he suspected she was speaking of escape.   
It had never occurred to him that he could be the one to escape and get help for the other prisoners. He had just felt so small and weak that the possibility of him taking action had seemed impossible. But now he actually felt his hope returning. He knew that his strength only came from Iman and he probably wouldn't or couldn't do anything without her, but he still felt more of his strength return.  
He couldn't help those who had already passed on, something that he would never forgive himself for. But he had the chance to help those who were still here. To prevent others from having to endure the same horrors that others had.  
He just didn't know how.  
It occupied his thoughts when he was awake and although he wanted to ask Iman, he didn't dare let anyone who might be listening to them know that Iman wasn't the brainless servant they thought she was. It was safer to let her take charge and follow after her because she knew how things worked around here and she definitely was in a more advantageous position than Eros was.  
She returned to giving off the impression she was an impassive, emotionless robot with no other purpose than to train him, but over time Eros would spot more flashes of her old self. It was ever subtle, a flicker of the eye, a twitch of the mouth, or quiet reference to a memory, but Eros still caught them.  
He relied on Iman to give him strength, and he relied on his memories of the men at the shack to drive him to give him courage.  
One week passed sooner than Eros had expected. He wouldn't have even known it had been that long if Iman hadn't quietly wished him luck at the end of their last session together. They had spent the week simply working on exercising and the movements for flying. Neither of them broke their bearing again until Eros was returned to his cell.  
He was scared. He hadn't had surgery before and had no clue what to expect. Most surgeries you were unconscious for, right? Hopefully this wouldn't be the time for Dr. Devoly to be sadistic and keep Eros conscious. What would the recovery be like? Would there be a lot of pain? Would he be expected to fly right after it? And the worst question: What if he didn’t make it?...  
Eros was filled with questions which stopped him from falling asleep and he was glad because he thought that he would have likely been wracked with nightmares instead of comforted by dreams.  
When Dr. Devoly and Trainer entered his room a few hours later, Eros' anxiety sky-rocketed and he felt his heart pounding in his chest as his fear returned stronger.  
For once, Devoly was not wearing a suit, he looked like an actual doctor, wearing strange white scrubs and different glasses which looked more professional rather than just a reflection of his personal sense of fashion.  
"Well it's a big day today for you." Devoly announced. "Actually it's more like a big thirty-six hours for you."   
Eros gulped nervously and stood, still avoiding the red eyes of the man in front of him.  
"Come out." Eros stepped out of the cell carefully. He followed Devoly and Trainer out of the lab and eventually into a much larger room which contained many tools for surgery. There were also a lot of people also in scrubs rushing about in the room, seemingly preparing items and maintaining the complex machinery around the room.  
Trainer didn't enter the room but stayed standing outside the door watching Eros carefully as he was guided to a small separate room connected to the surgery chamber. He was washed down by someone in scrubs with water that was, for once, not completely freezing before they dried him and rubbed him down in disinfectant wipes.  
Next he was guided back to the room.  
"Lie down on your stomach on the pad." Devoly ordered Eros who followed after him and did as told. His arms and legs were shaking and his breath shallow but he didn't resist as Devoly stuck several syringes in him before putting an IV in the crook of his elbow. He expected Devoly to put the restraints on him but when he didn't Eros reminded himself that Devoly would be performing surgery on almost every part of his body.  
Eros' face was in the hole of the bed which stopped him from seeing more than the floor and Devoly's feet until a strange-looking mask was brought in Eros' line of vision.  
"I'm putting this around your head." An unknown male voice told him while doing just that with straps connected to the mask. "Just breathe normally and count down from twenty for me."  
Eros took in a few breaths to calm himself before he began. "Twenty, nineteen, eighteen."  
Woah   
Although Eros couldn't see much, whatever he was breathing in was definitely affecting his vision. Without even moving, the objects around him seemed to be swirling around slowly. He paused for a second before he remembered that someone had told him to count and he would probably be punished if he didn't.  
"Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen."  
Eros' body felt weirdly light and he was almost worried he would have to hold onto the bed he was lying on just to stop himself from floating away. But when he tried to move his arms to hold himself down, he couldn't tell if they were moving. At least Dr. Devoly wasn't going to perform surgery without numbing Eros.  
"Twelve. Eleven. Ten."  
His tongue felt heavy in his mouth and he struggled to form any words. He forgot again what he was doing. Oh wait, no, he was supposed to be counting because someone told him to. Nico or Liam had never made him play any game like this one before and he cursed them for making it so difficult. But if he didn't, Richard would probably fuck him brutally, and Eros didn't want that right now.  
"Nine... Eight... Seven... Six..."  
Eros' eyes seemed to be playing tricks on him as it looked as if the floor was disappearing and the sensation of floating was paired with the simultaneous sensation of falling into the hole forming in the ground. Except it wasn’t the ground, it was the ceiling. Eros didn't like seeing the floor disappear so he closed his eyes and felt more relaxed.  
"Five..."  
He thought of Daniel's eyes for some reason and he felt even more calm. He imagined he was falling asleep next to him. Soon he would wake up in Daniel's arms, even if he couldn't feel them around him at the moment.  
"Four..."  
Eros felt his consciousness slip away but he struggled against it, suddenly wanting to make sure he finished counting, it seemed important to him.  
"Three..."  
What comes after three? Oh right.  
"Two..."  
And then there was complete and utter darkness.

When the subject was out, the crew waiting immediately burst into action. Devoly didn't trust anyone else to actually make any big changes to the subject but there was a small team working on each arm to hollow the bones and put in the supports. Devoly worked on the legs first, he didn't want to make the subject much shorter otherwise it might appear unattractive to some of his clients, but he also needed just enough to shift the subject's center of gravity.  
He cut through the thigh first, carefully avoiding the important tendons running through it. After his first cut was made, it all became robotic to him. He had performed this surgery hundreds of times and within only four hours, he had shortened the femur but decided to refrain from doing so to the calf. He could always perform another surgery if needed.  
Next, he began the process of hollowing out the bones and placing the splints in them which took about five hours on each leg. At this point, the two crews working on the subject's arms were complete and they were stitching up the subject's completed arms. Fourteen hours in and Devoly still felt energy coursing through his veins.  
He made incisions on each hip bone which would allow two different teams to work on changing the shape of them as well as hollowing and supporting them. He removed the floating ribs and began removing all non essential organs and tissues, completing it in about eight hours. The whole time, the subject's heart rate beat steadily as he breathed slowly in its unconscious state.  
Dr. Devoly then worked on making small but important changes to its lungs, adding several air sacs as well before changing the shape of the shoulderblades. That took three hours. Devoly wasn't quite tired at this point, but the next step excited him enough to ensure he would be getting tired anytime soon. It was now time to bring out the wings.  
The next process had to be absolutely precise and Devoly had his engineers design a machine to be just that. Many of the other steps would likely be safer if Devoly had them done by machine as well but he preferred being able to do it by hand. When it was all prepared, a group carefully wheeled in the cart containing the wings.  
Devoly was quite proud of these wings. They were beautiful and the result of years of careful breeding and genetic changes. As well as genetic changes, Devoly had also altered the wings by adding several of the supports that were now in the subject's bones, into the wings. They were much smaller, as they had to be, but they would ensure no damage would come to them.  
Although he was excited by watching the process as the machine slowly began creating synapse connections between the exposed wing tissue and the subject, Devoly decided to sleep after an hour or two. He slept in the lab, warning the crew on-duty that if the subject so much as blinked, they would wake him up immediately.  
There was no way this could be fucked up.  
They were coming up on the thirty-fifth hour mark when Devoly was woken up by urgent voices and someone shaking his bed carefully. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he rose to glare down dangerously at the man in front of him who was struggling to speak.  
"We uhm... Well he, the subject, I mean-"  
"Spit it out!" Devoly snapped moving to prep his hands.  
"Sir, the subject has woken up." Another crewmember interjected.  
"And how the fuck exactly did that happen?" Devoly asked, finishing up his prep by putting on clean gloves before he ran to the subject and poked his head under the bed. The subject's eyes were open and blinking rapidly everywhere with a dazed look on its face.  
Devoly whirled around and glared at the crewmembers fluttering around nervously who were avoiding his eye-contact. It was like performing surgery in a room full of toddlers. "Anyone care to explain to me who the fuck wasn't checking on the subject's IV and mask?"  
A woman pointed to a timid young man who was looking at the ground, shaking nervously. "It was him Sir."  
Devoly turned to the man and opened his mouth but suddenly the sound of alarms filled the room as the subject began writhing.  
Devoly tore his eyes away from the pathetic piece of shit in front of him and looked back to his precious work. Then he sprung into action, quickly shouting orders and replacing the materials which had been unsupervised. The wings had almost been completely connected but if it moved now, they would be completely fucked up so Devoly would have to move fast.  
In less than two minutes, Devoly got the subject to fall back asleep and he checked for any sign of damage to the work that was still being done. There was none, Thank fucking hell for that Devoly thought to himself.  
Then he turned his attention to the one who could have fucked over years of careful preparation and not to mention thirty-five hours of flawless surgery. Without a word, Devoly grabbed the man by his neck and yanked him out of the room. The crewmembers watched him cautiously before returning to their work once he had left the room.  
"Please Sir! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to cause any problems, but the subject's fine right?" The man began babbling. "I'll do anything you want, please!" He begged, tears streaming down his face.  
Devoly ignored him. As soon as they exited the lab, Trainer grabbed the man from Devoly and he ordered her to take him to his private lab to wait. The man's eyes widened in horror at that and he tried to escape Trainer's grip with no success.   
"Please! I'm begging you, don't do this!" The man began sobbing as Trainer dragged him away and Devoly returned to the lab after cleaning himself off again. He would pay the man a visit after he saw the successful end of the surgery.  
He ordered one of the men inside to bring him coffee and sat down to watch the machine make the final touches to the subject's new wings. It was impossible to actually see the work the microscopic needle was doing but after several minutes, the machine would move a few centimeters to the next spot and continue. At the end of the hour when the surgery was complete, Devoly felt both relief and pride as he looked down at the work he had done.  
Sure, there were huge marks all over the subject's body and it would be bruised and swollen for a few days while recovering, but it would be beautiful when healed. He would have to make a few adjustments to the subject such as ear shape and possibly even chest bone, but those could wait. Right now, Devoly would have to plan out how long he would wait before starting the accelerated healing process.  
It was generally better to simply allow the body to heal or recover on its own but sometimes Devoly was just a bit too impatient to wait. He had the power to control a subject's healing, he had been using it more than usual for this particular subject but it had sped up the pre-transformation process smoothly. Instead of waiting to have the subject exercise once a day with minimal muscle growth, Devoly simply gave it a special serum which would speed up the processes needed for cell growth and tissue repair in a controlled manner.  
Hopefully in less than a week the subject would be able to begin training for flight. And then Devoly could move on to the next phase of his work in human experimentation. Devoly couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as he thought about his plans for the future.  
Some people were just too weak to accept what Devoly could offer them, but soon that would change.  
He was taken from his thoughts as the room broke out in applause. Devoly stood up and moved closer to his newest toy. He had allowed it to keep the hair on its head because it was oddly appealing with it. Warm tan skin over a lean and supple body with eyes a seemingly lilac color. This subject was certainly attractive enough to help convince a few squirmish perverts that aligning with Devoly's beliefs would be beneficial.  
Devoly snapped his fingers at the four people next to him. "Wheel it into the recovery room." He ordered.  
"Yes Sir." They all said at once and moved to get a grip on the operating table before slowly rolling it away. In a few days, all external signs of surgery would be completely healed thanks to the serum, and the subject could be moved back to its old cell.  
Devoly walked after the table as it was rolled carefully into a recovery room which held equipment for monitoring a subject after surgery. He stayed in the room for an hour or so on his own, just admiring the flawless connection between the wings and the subject's back before he turned to leave.  
He walked across the entire facility to his own private quarters and opened the door, immediately moving for the bathroom. He stripped from his scrubs and got under the hot water and felt it melt away the stress which had built up during the surgery. Even when it ran completely smoothly, surgery was still stressful when everything depended on it. If he had just been experimenting then it wouldn't have been stressful at all, nothing to lose, but this specimen would be carrying his projects into the future.  
Devoly stayed under the water until the de-stressing effect it had was maximized. He exited the room and was planning on returning to his latest specimen just to check its vitals when a whimper got his attention. His eyes snapped across his room to the figure that was currently gagged and handcuffed to the metal operating table Devoly kept in one of the chambers in his quarters.  
He had almost forgotten about the man. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to de-stress himself further.  
Some people woke up and had a midnight snack, Devoly on the other hand enjoyed a little bit of midnight torture or subject experimentation.  
How that poor excuse of a crewmember had gotten here angered Devoly. He had no time to root out weakness or plain stupidity in each of the workers here but there tended to be a lack of faint-hearted beings here.  
"I almost forgot about you." Devoly muttered under his breath as he approached the man who seemed to have no other state of being than 'trembling and scared'. The man looked up at Devoly with pleading eyes and tried to jerk his hands away from the table to make a praying gesture but the chain wasn't long enough.  
Devoly looked over the man and contemplated what he should do with him. He wasn't up for anything experimental right now because he was just too godamn wound up, but maybe a bit of torture would lull Devoly to sleep. When Devoly didn't move or say anything for a while, the man chained to the table got anxious and began jerking at the chains, this time for some foolish fantasy of escape.  
The sound of the chains clanging was disrupting Devoly's train of thought and he decided they would have to go. He grabbed the chains and put his thumb on the keypad which unlocked them from the man's wrists. The unsuspecting creature was stunned by this seemingly kind act from Devoly and he laughed internally at his captive's naive stupidity.  
A second later, Devoly reached onto a shelf built into the wall and in one swift movement, opened a device, slammed it into the back of the man's neck, and pulled the trigger. The man immediately began convulsing, but it would only last a few seconds. When it subsided, Devoly was ready. He threw the man back onto the table and brought down a large tool which could be used for cutting bones over the man's arms, right below the elbow.  
When it came down, the man shrieked as his forearms were detached from the rest of his body and continued to scream as the blood began pouring from the stumps below his elbows. Devoly closed his eyes and listened to the screams for a few seconds, relishing the agony which perforated the air thickly. The thrill of harming someone after they expected to be set free was particularly enjoyable, excitement spread through Devoly's body and he looked down in surprise at his lower half which seemed to be excited as well.  
Looks like it's going to be one of THOSE nights.  
With a chuckle, Devoly turned his attention back to the man who was currently bleeding out on the floor at his feet. "Now that won't do." He chided the man. "We aren't quite finished here."  
The man's screaming had subsided into weak sobs as he tried and failed to stop his bleeding while also trying to crawl to the door. He gasped as he felt Devoly's hands grab his ankles and began dragging him backwards until he was lifted onto a padded table. His stumps flailed in the air as he tried to stop himself from getting moved but was unable to stop Devoly as he turned his body so he was halfway on the bed, his legs on the ground, scrambling to get a grip on anything.  
Devoly relished the sounds of his victim moving hysterically as Devoly pulled the man's scrubs down slowly until they were around his ankles. Then he pulled himself out of his pants and stroked himself while drinking in the whimpering mess underneath him.  
The man had just been about to pass out when Devoly thrusted into his unused hole in one movement. The man howled in utter agony as the extreme pressure built up until it felt as though he was being torn in half.  
Devoly laughed breathlessly and sunk his teeth into the neck of the man as he began thrusting roughly into his limp body. He breathed in the sweet smell of terror which was coating the man's body and within minutes the man was on the verge of passing out and Devoly was on the verge of finishing. He pressed his hands to the man's throat and increased pressure, feeling the feeble attempts of the man to escape weaken until his breathing stopped.  
Devoly came hard as soon as he felt the man's heart stop beating and he let out a loud groan of ecstasy, holding himself inside the man until he was sure all of his essence had made it inside of the man's hole. His breathing quickly evened after he pulled himself out and he changed into a new pair of pajamas then headed to his bed which gave him a great view of the work he had just finished.  
He gave a quick call to get someone to come clean up his lab and to prepare the man's body parts for collection. Maybe he would use them later he decided, it would serve as a warning to the others who thought they could get away with errors.  
Devoly sighed in contentment as he thought of what a successful day he had completed and how he was glad he had easy access to creatures he could use like the body lying still outside his bedroom.  
What a great stress relief!


	17. Seventeen

The first sense that came back to Eros, oddly enough, was smell. Although isopropyl alcohol and metal was never something that appealed to him, Eros breathed it in as deeply as he could in his strange almost-catatonic state.   
There was a hint of another smell and this one pressed into the back of Eros' mind as a memory tried to resurface but couldn't. All he could remember were sensations of travelling and collecting something to place in display cases. The smell was warm, soft, and almost alive.  
The next breath Eros breathed, he could not only smell, but he could hear. Along with the noise of air going in and out of his body, were several mechanical beeps and electronic hums which seemed to be coming from all around him. They weren't very obnoxious to him in his relaxed state but the loudness continued to grow, coaxing him out of his deep sleep.  
He licked his dry lips slowly and tasted nothing pleasant. Like morning breath but amplified, and mixed with the remnants of a bitter spray.  
After licking his lips, Eros could begin to feel more of his body. First his fingertips and toes, then, slowly moving upwards, he gained feeling in the rest of himself. He felt as though his body had been filled with cotton, he could twitch it and know it was there, but it felt fuzzy, delayed, and a bit claustrophobic.   
The weirdest part was an unfamiliar sensation from his back. He tried to flex his shoulders to move whatever was lying on top of him but didn't succeed. It wasn't remotely uncomfortable, in fact, as his ability to feel came back more, he recognized the soft warmth coming from the object that seemed to cover his whole back like a blanket.  
Eros opened his eyes to try and gauge the situation and looked around hazily at his limited view. It seemed he was lying on his stomach on a bed of some sort, but all he could see were the white tiles beneath him and the bottoms of some nearby machines.  
He felt too relaxed and calm to try and get up or even move, so Eros opted for laying still, eyes wandering the blank tile with a transfixed fascination at the nothingness. He didn't have a care in the world thanks to whatever was flowing through his veins.  
Eros was in the room for several hours that felt very short to him when his head began clearing up again and the niggling sensation of panic broke through the drug barrier surrounding his mind. He tried to jerk his hands underneath himself and push his body up but was stopped by padded cuffs as well as pain which struck him hard enough to surpass the numbness in his body.  
The pain left no part of him alone, every inch of his body ached or stung and it seemed to jog his memory of what had occurred before he lost his consciousness.   
The surgery!  
The panic hit him full-blown and despite the agony it caused him, he continued struggling against the restraints, trying to lift his head up enough to look at his back. The restraints had no give and after only a minute or so, Eros was breathing hard and aching too much to continue. Instead, he opted for trying to manipulate what he assumed were the wings on his body.  
Iman had never described what it was like to move her wings and Eros had never bothered to get a head start on learning how he would be able to control his own. This was something that Eros regretted as he tried to flex his shoulders with seemingly no effect other than more pain that coursed burningly through his back.  
It made sense that because there had been so much work put into Eros' shoulders that they would be the muscle needed to control the wings, but Eros couldn't feel anything moving. It could have been that his body was too numb to feel the light weight of wings, but Eros swore he could feel them lying passively on his back.  
Eros tried to check in with his body and search for the places which were in the least and most amount of pain but almost everywhere burned with pain, and his back was the strongest. He desperately wanted to see the wings on his body but the pain he was causing himself didn't seem to be worth it.  
He sighed in frustration and slowly tried to release some of the tension in his muscles. There was nothing he could do but wait until someone came to check on him and hopefully give him more medicine to soothe his pains.  
Eros closed his eyes and tried breathing deeply for several minutes but was interrupted by the sound of a door opening almost silently behind him and several footsteps walking into his room.  
"Despite some minor setbacks, the physical transformation is complete." Devoly announced as he walked in speaking as though he was making a report to someone although he and Eros were the only ones in the room..  
Eros gritted his teeth and spoke around the sharpness in his body which had only increased in intensity in the last few minutes. "What the hell did you do to my body, why can't I see it?"  
"I thought your friend had cleared up any questions on my plans." Devoly accused him. "Recovery will be a long time."  
Eros didn't like the sound of that at all. Being awake for only a few minutes had gotten him extremely antsy and frustration grew as a sense of claustrophobia overcame him out of the blue. "Fuck you." He hissed, surprised by his own aggression and immediately fearing what Devoly would do to him for it.  
He could practically feel Devoly's glare drilling holes in the back of his head but Eros didn't feel any indicator of a punishment. No punch, stap, or even a slap. Eros tried closing his eyes against a sudden wave of nausea over the idea of being stuck in this position, vulnerable to any punishment but the darkness just made it worse.  
Eros began yanking on his restraints again, he needed to get out right now and he didn't care how much it hurt him. If he got out of these restraints, his pain would stop. Devoly wouldn't be able to hurt him anymore and Eros could lay in peace, however he wanted. His panic grew and he ignored Devoly's order to stop jerking his hands.  
Like hell you bastard! Eros didn't realize he was groaning until suddenly his own ears hurt from it and the feet he could see from where he was laying seemed to be shifting nervously.  
"Sedate it." Eros could have sworn he heard Devoly say in the back of his head but wasn't sure.   
The idea of someone putting their hands on his body while he couldn't do anything to stop it only fueled his panic more. Sure, he hadn't tried to stop anyone from raping him in almost four years, but the idea that he was restrained made it much worse. Hot tears formed in Eros' eyes against his will as he let out a frustrated yell, trying to escape the oncoming grip of one of Devoly's crew with no luck.  
However no one touched him. Had he been in a normal state of mind, Eros would have thought of the IV in his arm and how nobody wold need to touch him to give him more medicine, but currently his only thought was that they would wait until his guard was down before gang-raping him.  
He struggled against the restraints but felt a sudden wave of coolness wash over him, easing the pain which had almost become blinding. It wasn't nearly enough to calm him, but it was enough to stop his yelling. He sat still for a few seconds and held his breath, waiting as whatever was flowing through him numbed more of his body.  
There should have been some worry in him that he would not be able to struggle at all because of whatever drug they had given him, but Eros felt too relaxed to care. He could vaguely hear people talking in the background but whatever they could have been saying was irrelevant to him. All he wanted to do was sleep.  
Unknown to Eros, this was how he spent the next week of his time. Slipping in and out of consciousness long enough to sense that some amount of time had passed, but brief enough to stop any further panic attacks.   
On the last day, Devoly upped Eros' sedative enough to use the same serum used for healing his muscles after Eros' workouts. Had Eros been conscious for it, the pure agony would have knocked him out and likely caused copious amounts of trauma that Devoly didn't have the patience to deal with. He would have loved to watch Eros writhe in agony, even for just a few seconds, but he would have to use another subject for this specific fantasy to make sure that no permanent damage would get in the way of his plans. Perhaps the subject training his new masterpiece. Obviously after its work was complete, it would serve no purpose to Devoly other than potential leverage. But play was more important, and Devoly didn’t need leverage when he had total control.  
When the serum had done its job, Devoly inspected Eros' body to see how far along he had gone in his healing and determined that training would be able to begin tomorrow. Eros would surely be in a lot of pain, but that didn't concern Devoly.   
His lips pulled back from his teeth in a poor attempt at a grotesque grin. He would soon be able to receive his well-earned recognition for his work. He had been working hard towards this goal for the last thirty-five years and now that it was finally coming to fruition, the unfamiliar sensation of giddiness spread through him.  
Rather than remain in the room with the strange feeling, Devoly decided to search around his lab for other subjects he could tinker around with. There were still many preparations he needed to make, and he needed to clear his mind to think.

The next time Eros woke up, it was not as slow or peaceful as the last time. He was still a bit sluggish, but for the most part, it only took a minute or two for his senses to come back along with his memory. He had snapped at Devoly, something that he was sure he would be punished for, since it seemed he hadn't been already.  
As if summoned by his thoughts, a door opened and Devoly's now-familiar shoes came into Eros' line of sight. "I'm going to undo the straps on the bed. If you do not move exactly as I tell you, I can assure you it will be extremely painful."  
Eros couldn't tell if that was a threat or just truth because of the surgery, but he never had any intention of moving against orders. He waited silently as he felt the gentle tug of several pairs of hands undoing the straps which held his whole body down. "I'm going to tilt the table so you can stand. Don't move." Devoly told Eros as soon as the last strap fell away from his body.  
There was a mechanical whir and Eros felt the table he was on begin moving and the weight of his body made him slide downard slowly until his feet touched the ground. Several hands were holding his body gently to ensure he didn't slip or fall. When the table came to a ninety degree angle from the floor, Eros was standing completely and it made the aches in his body more noticable.  
A dull pain pulsed through his whole body, especially in his legs, and it definitely was not simply his muscle, it was his bones. He didn't understand how Devoly expected him to be standing so quickly, let alone if he was expected to be able to continue his training. Just standing was a pain.  
He could tell immediately that he was shorter than he used to be, just by an inch or two, but it was completely noticeable to him, especially with the nasty marks on his thighs indicating an incision was made there. His whole body was covered in similar marks, they looked much older than stitches after a surgery, the skin was raised and slightly discolored, but it wasn't as bad as Eros had expected.  
His hip bones were poking out considerably less than they once were, but Eros didn't think it would help with his almost starved appearance. Lean muscle coated his body much more than it once had, but years of malnutrition were hard to cover. However, Eros' attention was mostly focused on something else.  
The most noticeable pain came from his back. Not because the pain was necessarily the worst, but because it was incredibly strange. He felt warm extensions coming from his back, as if someone was pulling a warm rope from his shoulders. Soft feathers brushed against his back and the top of his legs. It was a bit achey, but all Eros cared about was being able to see the source of these sensations.  
His silent wish was ignored but as Devoly moved around Eros to check his back, Eros was able to look at the glass leading to an observation room connected to the room he was currently in. Sure enough, despite the fuzzy unclear shapes, Eros would see the pair of wings shooting out from his back and laying across it limply. They weren’t tucked in like Iman’s usually were, but lay passively.  
He expected to feel horror and disgust, but all he felt was a chill. He had handled so many pains and terrors thus far, another one was no problem. Or maybe this was the residual drugs in his system. It didn't matter either way. He tore his eyes away from the glass and awaited Devoly's instructions.  
It was deemed that Eros would be able to resume training. He was led to the training room where he was greeted by an almost anxious looking Iman. "You made it." Was all she said, with the slightest bit of relief.  
"I did." Eros replied shortly, earning himself a curious stare but Iman wasn't able to ask any questions as Trainer appeared and began passing on orders.  
Training that session was short and simple, Eros did the same exercises he had been working on with the zipline previously, and to make it safe to do with his healing body, Eros was given the first clothes he had worn in five years. He had been forced by the guards at the other island to wear all sorts of lingerie and other strange apparel for entertainment, but it had never covered much.  
This article of clothing was practically identical to the one Iman was wearing, the full-body black bodysuit, but his had more padding, and was much looser. He struggled to put it on, finding difficulty maneuvering his limbs where he wanted them, but Iman helped him, zipping it up to just below the small of his back.  
It felt strange to be wearing clothing again. Oddly enough, Eros wasn't sure if he preferred it to being naked. He hadn't ever thought anything strange about not wearing clothing here, he had become so used to it that it was ingrained in him that that was how he was supposed to be. Vulnerable and easy to access.  
Performing the exercises proved to be interesting. Although he moved a bit more stiffly now with the clothing on, he felt particularly light while running and jumping. After acclimating to the feel of the suit, Eros gave the wire he was connected to a determined look, took his leg back to brace himself, and lunged forward into a sprint. When he got to the familiar spot in the wire, he jumped as high and far as he could.  
And he finally made it over the wire!  
The harness made it over the incline and began moving downwards, but Eros was too excited to be concerned with unclipping himself and landing the fall, instead, he just waited until he was lowered enough for his feet to touch the ground and he ran with the speed, digging his heels in slightly to slow himself down.  
He turned to Iman and grinned. "I finally made it over that damned incline."  
Iman gave him a smile so brief he wondered if he had imagined it. "It's about goddamn time." She told him with the slightest hint of joking in her voice.  
"Agreed."  
Eros repeated the same exercise for the rest of the brief training before he was taken from the room. Instead of being led to the showers like he normally was after training, he was led back to the room he was held in when he first came here. Trainer ordered him onto the table in the room where she quickly inserted an IV that made Eros pass out in just a few minutes.  
The healing serum was given to Eros while he was out and Trainer only came back after six hours, waking up Eros roughly before taking him back to the training room. This time, he was to work on something different.  
"You are going to move your wings today." Iman told him.  
He felt both excitement and apprehension but swallowed down the latter to listen to Iman's careful instructions. Within a few minutes he was frustrated at the lack of progress but Iman told him it could take hours for him to be able to move them. He was concentrating on the space on his shoulders that was burning the most when he felt something.  
His wings moved!  
Iman stayed silent so as to not disrupt Eros' focus as he looked behind himself slowly in awe. It was the strangest sensation to be controlling something attached to him that he wouldn't consider a part of his body. He watched as his wings fluttered slowly and despite the unfamiliarity, it got easier to move them by the second.  
By the end of the session, Eros could extend and fold up his wings tightly to his back with little trouble. He wanted to continue, try more advanced movements, but the muscles which he could now target to move his wings were fatigued to the point where he was shaking.  
It was strange to be able to move something previously not attached to him. When he was little, Eros used to contemplate what it would be like to have an extra arm in the middle of his chest. Trying to imagine what it would feel like to control it was difficult, but he told himself that he would think the same way if he only had one arm and thought about what it would be like to have two.   
And just like Eros could move his limbs without problem and feel aware of each part of his body, the same thing occurred in his wings overtime. The next week or so he practiced moving his wings easily and the idea that he hadn't always had them felt strange. He felt oddly connected to his wings, and slowly thought less of his passion to escape, and more of when he would learn to fly.  
Which turned out to be soon.  
Only a week and a half after his transformation, Eros was led into the training room and the plan for that session was explained to him.  
"Same movement you always do, but this time without a harness.” Iman told Eros, to which he swallowed and rubbed his hands together with apprehension.  
He eyed the room and visualized himself running, jumping and taking off, but an image of himself falling in a heap of broken feathers flashed through his mind. He shook it away and looked to Iman who gave him a single nod of confidence. He took a deep breath and visualized again, this time without any intrusive thoughts.  
Eros took off at a sprint and when he had just the right momentum, he jumped and unfurled his wings. He felt himself fall for a millisecond and closed his eyes preparing for the impact of the floor but his wings somehow took over and without even thinking, his wings thrust downward powerfully enough to give him more air. Eros’ eyes opened in shock and he almost forgot to move his wings again but he began to flap his wings more as the ground came closer.  
The feeling was exhilarating even if he was less than ten feet off the ground and in that moment, Eros forgot about all of his troubles or pains. All he could think about was how powerful and free he felt. His body coursed through the air quickly until he reached close to the end of the training room and he lowered himself to the ground, settling for a running land rather than a dramatic somersault.  
Eros turned around and jogged back to Iman at the other side of the room and couldn’t help the dumb grin on his face. He hadn’t smiled this hard in years and it almost hurt his face but he couldn’t help how excited he was as he came to a stop in front of Iman.  
“I did it!” He exclaimed breathlessly. “I just flew. Holy shit I can’t believe it!”  
Iman’s eyes glowed with pride and she opened her mouth but Devoly, who had apparently witnessed Eros’ first flight spoke first.  
“I’ll need you to be able to fly much better than that little bird. Our plans have been pushed forward to three weeks from now.” The last sentence was directed at Trainer and Iman whose expressions turned grave at the new deadline.  
With those words, Devoly turned and walked out, Trainer following him. Eros turned to Iman as soon as they were out of sight. “What plans?” He asked her.  
Iman stared at him for a few seconds as if wondering if she should even tell him before responding. “Devoly will be clearing out this whole facility, you included. An investor of his has promised an entirely new laboratory as long as she finds his newest experiment to be worth her time. Although these islands offer secrecy, it is difficult to transport cargo, and if the deal goes well, there won’t be the need for so much secrecy. Human experimentation will become normalized for his customers.”  
Eros took this all in and his excitement for having flown disappeared. Dread now filled Eros and he not only thought of what would happen to himself, but what would happen to hundreds of innocent people if Devoly’s investor provided the tools for his experimentations to expand. He wouldn’t wish what had happened to him to his worst enemy. He didn’t even think Devoly himself deserved to be dehumanized like his own subjects were.  
Although Eros knew better than to talk to Iman about escape, because someone was always listening to them whether they could see it or not, the desire burned Eros. They needed to get out of here before three weeks passed and Eros couldn’t only hope that Iman had a plan because he sure as hell didn't know what to do.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Eros could tell Devoly thought he and Iman were planning something. Although this should have concerned him for fear that it would get in the way of the two escaping, he mostly felt ashamed over the fact that they hadn’t been able to even start planning said escape. They were heavily supervised constantly and were pushed hard in Eros’ training in order to meet Devoly’s deadline.  
Time had moved forward fast due to the challenging training regiment, leaving Eros and Iman with only a few hours until Eros would be shipped off. With no plan on how to stop it.  
Eros spent most of the time he wasn’t training either sleeping in his cell or trying to come up with an escape plan, and hadn’t been very successful trying to do either.  
Devoly’s suspicion is what led to the heavy supervision, which included himself watching the training. Eros’ confidence, which was slowly returning, was always crushed easily by the mere presence of Devoly, which ensured that even if Eros and Iman had an opportunity to talk, Eros probably wouldn’t.  
When Trainer came to retrieve Eros for another training session, she informed him that this would be the last, and that Iman, under Devoly’s instructions, wouldn’t be joining them.  
Eros froze at that. Although it was impractical to think they could have come up with a plan in just one session together, it would be impossible without her. And now he would be leaving this place, which was horrible, but at least familiar. At least here there were people he cared about.  
“Why not?” Eros broke Trainer’s no-talking rule without thinking.  
Trainer turned and without any effort, pushed Eros to the ground and pulled out the taser rod she kept with her. Eros flinched as she pressed it to his neck but didn’t fight back as he felt his submission returning as a sort of self-preservation tactic. Instead of tasing him, Trainer warned him “Talk again and you wont get any sedation next time you need surgery.  
Eros didn’t need the threat which he knew she could carry out in a heartbeat, he wouldn’t have spoken again anyways. Instead, he nodded silently and got to his feet shakily once Trainer removed the taser from him. They continued to the training room as though nothing had happened, but instead of the eerily empty corridors which Eros was used to, they were filled with dozens of workers, transporting sedated experiments. Eros watched as workers entered rooms and checked their notes on the subject they were looking at while said subject did its best to place itself as far away from the guards as possible. Sometimes after consulting their notes on the subject, the guards would sedate it and remove it from the cell to be transported with the others. Most, however, were simply shot through the head, no warning, or hesitation from the guards who would then turn to the next room.  
Eros was sickened and forced himself to look away.  
Instead, he focused his attention on Trainer’s back and followed her to the training room, entering and noticing that Devoly was already waiting. Although Trainer had told Eros that Iman wouldn’t be here, he couldn’t help but look around hopefully as though he would catch her off in one of the corners of the room. When his gaze returned to Devoly, to his torso, never his eyes, Devoly looked pleased with himself.  
“Little bird, I am so close to finally accomplishing everything I have worked for. In just a few hours we will be leaving for the next chapter of my plans for you.”  
Eros didn’t respond, didn’t even as much as move his gaze which was fixed on the device on Devoly’s wrist. It was a reminder that Devoly could incapacitate Eros, or Iman for that manner, any second, effortlessly.  
“Begin the final training” Devoly told Trainer who nodded and turned to Eros while Devoly entered the observation room.  
Trainer ordered Eros through several exercises and drills which Iman had already taught him. He thought about pretending to complete one of the movements unsuccessfully in hope that maybe Devoly would let Iman return if he thought Eros needed help which only she could give, but decided against it. Deveoly had seen Eros complete all of these movements successfully before and wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for a trick like that. Eros needed to challenge Devoly in a way that would attack his untouchable ego.  
Real fuckin’ easy to determine how to do that! Eros thought to himself sarcastically, his frustration clouding over his focus on Trainer’s instructions.  
Eros shook his head slightly and returned his attention to Trainer, doing his best to decide he would perform whatever action she needed of him, without letting on that his mind was elsewhere. Any idea Eros came up with had too many holes in it, but what scared him the most was the worry that even if he could come up with the perfect plan, he wouldn’t be brave enough to act on it without the support of Iman. He hadn’t told her, but he hoped that once they escaped, they could return to the camp where he had stayed before and rescue the prisoners. Now, even the idea of him escaping on his own seemed impossibly daunting.  
Eros realized he had failed to bring his attention back to Trainer and noticed the subtle signs of frustration in her usually blank, cold face. She grabbed him roughly on the back of his neck and drew him in close. Eros hadn’t ever been this terrified of her, the eyes which usually stared at him impassively were hard and daring Eros to lose his focus again.  
“If I have to repeat myself one more time, I’ll rip off your little friend’s feathers one by one until there is nothing but flesh and drop her in the ocean.” She warned Eros low, under her breath, and he flinched at the idea of Iman being unable to fly without her feathers and drowning due to his inability to a simple task of listening.  
“Leave.” Devoly’s voice surprised Eros, cutting him out of his dark mental images of Iman dying. “Oversee the finalizing and come back only when it is time to leave.”  
Trainer appeared startled, but quickly recovered and returned to her emotionless self and left without a word.  
Devoly strolled over to Eros with his infuriatingly relaxed posture which to Eros just showed his insatiable ego. He finally understood why Devoly took to experimenting. Of course it was partly just due to him being a sadist who so happened to be trained in some sort of medicine, but most sadists in the real world would take to something less extreme such as abusing prostitutes or even purchasing a slave to torment. Devoly, on the other hand, needed something more than that. He didn’t just want to have control over what something did or didn't do.  
He had the imperious belief that he had the authority to change people into something which gave him a wider range of what he could control. Adding a tail, or fins to, or subtracting an arm from the subject so he could control what the subject did or didn’t do with it. Placing wings on the body of a human so he could control creatures which were not limited to the earth. Devoly thought of himself as a powerful being, like a conqueror. Except not even a conqueror could control the sky or ocean.  
No, his ego was more untouchable. Devoly saw himself as a God.  
Eros’ fear for Devoly was replaced with disgust, loathing, and, surprisingly, hope. Eros was familiar enough with the stories of Gods and Goddesses which his father had taught him to know what always threatened their ego: someone who defied their authority.  
This sudden realization filled him with inspiration and he came up with an idea on how to get Iman back to him. This whole time, Eros had thought of himself as nothing more than the subject of Devoly's experimentation but he was more than that. He was Devoly’s masterpiece, and Devoly wouldn’t let any harm come to his masterpiece before he completed his goal of controlling others’ morals through normalizing human experimentation. Eros thought he had no leverage, but he WAS the leverage. At least his body was.  
Devoly opened his mouth, likely to give Eros a warning or order, but Eros moved before he could. He lunged forward, and Devoly jumped out of the way thinking Eros was going to attack him. Instead, Eros just sprinted past him, jumping into the air and letting his wings catch him and pull him to the top of the room in a few powerful strokes. Once he was high enough, Eros adjusted his bodyweight and did his best to hover. It wasn’t something he had much practice in and he definitely wasn’t staying in one place exactly, but it was close enough.  
When he looked down, Devoly looked tiny, Eros could imagine how it would be so easy to crush Devoly under his foot, and this just fueled the adrenaline which pumped through his veins and filled him with courage. Despite how far up he was, at least eighty meters, Eros could still see the shock and confusion on Devoly’s face, it was almost comical and Eros had to push down his giddiness to stop himself from laughing. Before Devoly could gather himself, Eros beat him.  
“Bring. Iman. Back.” Eros yelled down at Devoly, forcing all the confidence he could muster into each syllable which he enunciated clearly so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself.  
Devoly stared at Eros for a few seconds before his face relaxed and he called calmly up to Eros. “Now why would I do that little bird?”.  
Eros narrowed his eyes. “Because if you don’t, I will let myself fall, and even if I survive, I won’t be the perfect specimen you need to convince your monstrous connection to partner with you.”   
Devoly stared at Eros for a few seconds before he lifted his wrist with the watch-like device.  
“Come down now little bird, you would want me to electrocute both you AND your friend now would you?” Devoly crooned, making Eros cringe.  
But he wasn’t going to fall for that. “Go ahead and electrocute me. All that will do is ensure I will fall.”  
Finally Eros saw the first signs of visible anger on Devoly as his whole body seemed to adjust itself as though to make himself taller.  
“Come down now, or I will bring the SEALs here and make you watch as I rape each one, before gutting them.” Devoly growled, just loud enough for Eros to hear. He hadn’t thought of Devoly using the other prisoners as leverage, he assumed Devoly had forgotten about them.   
But Eros was still not deterred. Instead of responding, he let his wings which had been keeping him aloft relax enough to let himself fall. He closed his eyes and relished in the feeling of the air whirling up around him. The sensation of falling had never scared Eros who adored cliff-jumping and aerial acrobatics. He basked in the power he felt.  
“STOP!” Devoly screamed as soon as Eros had begun to fall. He had thrown his hands up to his head, forgetting about his watch and any threats he had made. He watched in horror as his creation fell a second longer after he had screamed, but then suddenly extended its wings, causing it to catch air suddenly and jolt forward.  
Eros hadn’t expected the movement to be painful, but he should have realized that the force of his body falling could severely damage the tissue connecting his wings to his body once they caught the air. Instead of showing his pain which was sharp enough to make Eros gasp, but not enough to fall, Eros gritted his teeth and flew back up towards the top of the room’s ceiling. He looked back to Devoly who had done his best to remain composed but Eros could see that he had rattled him.  
Perfect.  
“Bring Iman here.” Eros demanded, feeling the confidence he once had as an officer to give orders to others.  
Devoly glared at Eros for several seconds, searching for a way around it. Finally he seemed to relent, and lifted up his wrist, speaking into the device on it quietly enough that Eros couldn’t make out the words. He was worried that Devoly was going to try and trick him somehow but couldn’t think of how he would do it. Sure, he could shoot Eros with a tranquilizer gun but Eros would probably still fall and hurt himself.  
While Eros and Devoly waited for Iman to arrive, Eros glided gently towards the windows which were at the top of the room. He had never paid much attention to them as he wasn’t usually as high in the room as he was right now. The windows were way too thick to break, even if Eros had been able to fly something heavy up to try and smash them, it had been one of the few ideas he and Iman had been able to discuss.   
It was late evening, Eros could barely make out a glimpse of the sun due to the angle of the building which faced north and was almost completely underground. The only parts of the facility visible on the outside were the windows, and an empty doorway enclosed by a small hill Eros could see to his far left which he could only assume was the main entrance to the facility. The sky was a particularly fiery orange this evening, something which Eros took as a sign of good fortune for him and Iman. He surveyed the land and waters he could see from the windows and tried to guess approximately where the camp with the prisoners was, relative to the facility Eros was in. Based off of the shoreline Eros could see in the distance directly in front of him which curved inward towards the right, Eros assumed that the camp was in a general eastern direction from the facility. Which could totally be bullshit.  
Eros tried to imagine how he and Iman could get out. Right now his plan was very desperate, and had so many holes in it that he couldn’t even begin to try and improve it, for he would lose hope if he did. Once Iman arrived, he would fly down and the two of them could overpower Devoly long enough to grab some sort of weapon he must have had on him. Eros could threaten to kill himself with the weapon unless Devoly let them go. That was as far as he had gotten, and he knew it wouldn’t work but couldn’t bring himself to not at least try in hopes that once the plan was set in motion, some force would inspire him in improvisation.  
The nearly silent click of the doors opening brought Eros back to reality and he turned from the window, spotting Iman immediately who was being pushed from behind by a guard. The guard brought Iman to Devoly and handed him something which Eros couldn’t quite make out. Once she had handed off the unknown object to Devoly, she exited back out the doors, leaving Eros alone with Iman and Devoly.  
Eros let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.“Now you are going to go into that room and let us ta-”  
“Now you, my little bird” Devoly interrupted, his previous calm returned, “are going to come back down so we can get going on time.”  
Eros couldn’t help but snort. “And why exactly would I do that?” He drawled, unimpressed.  
He couldn’t make out what was in Devoly’s hand, but he brought it swiftly up to Iman’s neck, who squirmed. “Because I’m going to inject your friend here with that serum which has been so handy in helping you heal. Except, as you can probably remember, a large amount injected directly into the body will cause severe pain unless the subject is sedated. Severe pain. And permanent trauma. Really I haven’t had many opportunities to study the effects of the medicine on many subjects. They all died within an hour or so of receiving it.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “But I would love to study it some more, and this creature here is quite tough, so maybe she could survive long enough for me to document what irreversible damages occur.”   
Devoly looked up at Eros who was coming down slowly, high enough that if he dropped, he wouldn’t survive, but low enough that he could intervene if necessary. His heart felt as though it had frozen, yet at the same time as if it was pumping loud enough that Devoly could sense his returning fear. Eros thought about his options, he didn’t have very many, and certainly not enough time to consider them thoroughly. In his growing panic he swiveled his head to look up at the windows in a naive hope that he would suddenly discover one of them had latches that could be opened on the inside.  
His instincts screamed at him to run, to fly away, but his morals fought back harder, forcing him to look at Iman who was standing rigidly with what Eros could only assume was a syringe at her throat. He wanted to escape, to save himself so he could return with backup somehow and save everyone else. Eros almost wanted nothing more than to fly straight for the training room doors and make a run for the facility exit.  
Almost.  
Apparently Devoly thought Eros was taking too long because he tapped his foot impatiently and called up to Eros “I wonder if she will last longer than those marines you came up here with” before sticking the needle into Iman and pushing down the plunger.


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Time slowed down as Eros hovered, watching in horror as Devoly removed the used syringe from Iman’s neck and she began convulsing, her lips pursed in a silent scream of agony. Without processing his own actions, Eros angled his body in a steep decline and swooped down at Devoly.   
He reached him in seconds, throwing himself into a summersault to combat the impact, snapping his wings tight to his back as he rolled. Eros’ legs brought him up a second later but he immediatly ducked to his left, barely avoiding Devoly trying to stick him with a sedative.  
Blood was coursing through his veins along with adrenaline. Eros felt the primal instinct to fight overpower the submission which would take control in Devoly’s overwhelming presence. Devoly had become off-balanced from missing Eros and his left foot came forward to counter the rest of his body which was still trying to move forward from his unmet momentum. Eros lunged to his right and snapped his leading foot forward, hooking Devoly’s right ankle with it and drawing it towards his own body.  
Finding himself falling forward completely, Devoly dropped the syringe from his right hand and moved both of his arms in front of his chest, bracing himself as he fell with an angry shout.  
Eros had almost expected Devoly to snap back up and attack Eros, because, despite his returning courage, Devoly was still a powerful inhumane figure in his mind.  
However, Devoly couldn’t do more than roll himself onto his back, and reach for the syringe which he had dropped. Eros stopped him by stepping onto his wrist and twisting enough pressure into it that Devoly groaned and tore his gaze away from it.  
Eros crouched down and snatched the syringe from him. Distracted by the sound of Iman groaning behind him, Eros turned to where her body had crumpled to the floor, finding that somehow she hadn’t passed out from the pain. Her eyes were barely open but as Eros threw himself at her side, he saw her flat chest rising and falling rapidly as though she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs.   
“Iman! Look at me, can you hear me?” Eros grabbed her face and tried to get her eyes to focus on him but she was looking behind him.  
Eros only knew basic first aid, which had failed to cover how to respond to injections which forced the victim into a hyperactive cellular state. He began to panic as Iman continued to offer no response to him. He wondered if he should inject her with the sedative since Devoly had mentioned that the sheer pain and trauma could kill, but he was worried that the sedative would be too strong, or that Eros wouldn’t be able to carry her out if she was knocked out.  
It had been less than a minute since she had been injected, so obviously a complete recovery wouldn’t be realistic, but Iman’s silence, interrupted only by muffled groans as tremors tore through her body every few seconds, was more terrifying than if she had been screaming.  
Eros scanned her face desperately for some sort of response, or a clue of what he should do. Finally, her eyes widened just a bit and she pursed her lips weakly.  
“What is it? Iman, can you hear me? Just say something!” Eros’ desperation and terror had risen into his throat and he couldn’t help yelling at her, as though her hearing was the issue.  
Iman couldn’t speak, she only let out a tiny grunt. “Hmph, isss” She slurred as she tried to force her tongue to work past the agony.  
Her face strained in concentration and she tried again, this time able to lift her fingers with a pained wince and point behind Eros. “Stop him”. She croaked, barely audibly.  
Eros snapped his head around and saw Devoly, getting shakily to his feet while lifting the device on his wrist up and desperately trying to get his injured right hand to the screen. But Eros was there in an instant, delivering a powerful uppercut to Devoly’s chin. Without hesitation, Eros injected Devoly with his own sedative, directly into his neck, and not gently. He felt a grim satisfaction at the shock which filled Devoly’s wide eyes as he struggled weakly against Eros’ grip, falling to his knees unceremoniously before falling to his back.  
Once Eros was sure Devoly was out, he turned back to Iman, who was already struggling to her hands and knees.  
“Watch it! Slow down there!” Eros shouted at her incredulously as he returned to her side. An injection the size she had received was more than five times the amount Eros was forced to intake after a training session, and it would take him several minutes to be able to walk again.  
But Iman would have none of it, she ignored him trying to make her lie back down, dragging her limbs underneath her until she was sitting up. “Get me up” she growled to him hoarsely.  
Eros looked at her for a few seconds in amazement before relenting, he grabbed her gently by her arms and lifted her to her feet. Iman was breathing heavily and her pupils were extremely dilated, but before Eros could ask if she was going to be okay, she interrupted him.  
“Quickly, grab his watch.” She ordered Eros, pointing at Devoly’s body.  
Eros gave her a look of confusion. “Hurry! We don’t have much time before someone notices.”  
That got Eros to move, suddenly realizing that he had knocked out the man in control of this facility and he and Iman still didn’t have a plan. Except Iman actually did seem to have an idea.  
Eros grabbed Devoly’s device, which was, in fact, a watch. It didn’t look special, when he tapped on the screen, nothing appeared but the time: 2048  
“There’s nothing on here” Eros turned to Iman who held out her hand impatiently.  
Eros handed it to her and watched curiously as she picked up Devoly’s hand, pressing one of his fingers to the screen. Eros shifted his body to get a better look at the screen which was different from what Eros had seen before, there were all sorts of symbols on the screen which meant nothing to him.  
“It only works with his fingerprint,” Iman told Eros briefly. “And with any luck, we should be able to…” She paused, looking over the options carefully before using Devoly’s finger to tap several buttons.  
Click!  
Eros flinched as the collar which he had grown used to digging into his neck clicked and then vibrated. He expected to be met with a shock but instead, the collar loosened its grip on his throat. Eros looked to Iman in surprise, lifting his hands to the collar, pausing before his fingers could graze its surface.  
“Go ahead.” Iman nodded at him “It’s deactivated now so you can take it off”.  
Eros pulled the collar off his neck gently and felt the skin which surprisingly wasn’t scarred underneath. Maybe it wasn’t actually surprising considering his entire body was now void of the scars which had formed on his body from undergoing the surgery. Even the countless scars which had littered his skin from Nathan and the others at the camp had faded until they were almost invisible to the eye unless someone knew what to look for.  
Iman brought her own hands to her collar and tore it off. Eros could see that her neck was not free of scars like Eros’. Her skin was raised and slightly discolored, a permanent reminder of her years here. Not that she could ever forget them anyways.  
Eros wanted to tell Iman that the scar didn’t look so bad but she was already moving.  
“We need to find a way out of here, and fast. Once we get out of this building, we can fly to the nearest island, they can’t track us down without our collars.”  
Eros hesitated before replying. “Iman. There’s… something else I need to do before we can leave” he told her quietly.  
“What is it?”  
“There were these SEALs back at another place on this island I was held at before here…” Eros tried to gauge Iman’s expression but it was blank. He continued “and I made a promise to get them free.”  
“Vaea” Iman said firmly, using Eros’ last name to convey how serious she was “I understand that you want to help them, but we won’t be of any use to them if we get caught.”   
Eros looked away and tried again, “But one of them was really sick when I left, if we leave them now, who knows if he…” Eros trailed off, sensing that Iman wasn’t going to relent.  
“If you can find a way for us to escape with them, I would be happy to do so, but right now, we need to focus on ourselves.” Iman told Eros firmly. “Hey, look at me.”  
Eros looked up and met her eyes. “Focus on ourselves.” He echoed.   
Iman looked at Eros for a few more seconds before returning her focus to planning.  
“Now the issue of getting out of here. I’ve only ever seen one door in this place and there is no way we are going to be able to just walk out of it without being caught, even with how busy everything is.”  
“From moving out for the new facility Devoly’s contact had promised?”  
“Affirmative.”  
Eros suddenly thought of something and pointed up to the windows he had been looking through earlier and explained to Iman excitedly “I saw this doorway not far from here while looking outside. At first I thought that it must have been the main entrance, but even with all of the activity from moving, I didn’t see anyone coming out of or entering it.”  
“So the main entrance must be somewhere else” Iman murmured.  
“You know this facility better than I do, you should look at it and see if you can guess where the doorway is.” Eros told Iman.  
Iman nodded and took off in a run to get enough momentum to fly up to the window Eros had been looking through earlier. She studied its location carefully and ran the possibilities of where it could be through her mind. Once she had an idea, she flew back down to where Eros was standing, waiting hopefully.  
“There are a few places I can think of which would lead to that doorway on location alone.” Iman paused thoughtfully. “But considering there is nothing nearby, and no one is around it, I’m thinking it is used only under very specific circumstances. Devoly’s private room must have an emergency exit, which accounts for both the location and the lack of traffic.” Iman concluded.  
Eros grinned, he didn’t want to think about why Iman knew where Devoly’s private room was, and he didn’t ask.   
“I like the idea of using his personal exit for our escape” He told Iman before his grin fell. “But how are we ever going to get to it?”  
Iman returned with a smile and walked back to Devoly’s body while Eros followed, waiting for her explanation.   
“I’m going to bite off one of his fingers” she deadpanned.  
Eros’ initial reaction of confusion was swiftly met with disgust, but he didn’t argue.  
“I’ve seen him enter and exit rooms in this facility thousands of times and all we need is his fingerprint to access the corridor outside this room, as well as his own room.” Iman elaborated.  
Eros looked away and blocked out the sounds of Iman working off Devoly’s finger. When she had finished she gestured towards the door, Devoly’s watch and a bloody finger in her hand.  
“Alright, we are going to have to move fast” She told Eros as they walked.  
Once they reached the door, Iman lifted the severed finger to the handle and used the rest of her own hand to open the door. Eros let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding as Iman pushed the door open carefully. He peered around the corner into the corridor and was met with complete silence.  
Iman moved forward but Eros stopped her. “They will know we left and come looking for us. Even if the collars can’t track us down, we won't be able to make it to the closest island.”  
Iman considered this with a sigh before her eyes brightened as she remembered something.  
“There was only a single time that anyone came close to escaping while I was here.” She told Eros quickly. “It was Anya. It was only a few days into us being here and she made it out of her cell before making for the main entrance.” Iman recalled proudly before her face fell. “Devoly was able to put the entire building on lockdown with this” she lifted up the watch.  
“If the building goes on lockdown then no one will be able to follow us!” Eros exclaimed quietly.  
Iman nodded, “Exactly, we will just have to make sure we put it on lockdown once we have escaped the building, which means we need to be out before anyone notices we are gone.”  
Eros felt almost jittery from excitement. They were so close!  
“We have to move fast, they must have finished clearing out this section!” Iman grabbed Eros by the arm and took off in a run. Eros followed, the only sound in the empty corridor the sound of their bare feet slapping against the tiled ground. Every time they passed another corridor or made a turn, Eros braced himself, expected someone to be waiting for them.  
But there was no one, minus the bodies of discarded experiments which had been shot to death in their cells.  
“Why is no one here?” Eros called to Iman over the sound of their running and heavy breathing as quietly as he could.  
“They must have gotten everything out of here they needed, and luckily for us, there are other floors that they are clearing now” Iman replied grimly, pulling Eros to the right in a sharp turn before stopping suddenly in front of a door.  
Silently, she used the finger to open the door and pushed it open, leading the way quickly into Devoly’s room, which was partially an operating room with a small cage. Eros took in the room in disgust while Iman ventured further in, eyes searching for the emergency escape. Once Eros had torn his eyes from the remains of some poor creature which laid in a heap on the operating table, he joined Iman.  
At first glance around the sitting room which was just past the bedroom and place for experimentation, nothing stood out. Iman circled around the room again before moving back into the bedroom to continue the search.  
Eros fought against the fear that was slowly rising. What if they had made it this far for nothing? Even if they could make it out, they still had to escape the island. And if Eros couldn’t come up with a way to rescue Daniel and the others, then they would likely die as well.  
Eros’ thought spiraled and became more irrational as his fear began to take over while his fingers scraped against the walls blindly, searching desperately for some sign of escape. If Devoly catches them, he will kill Iman and hurt the SEALs before killing them as well! Or he will send Eros back to the camp where he will be starved, beaten, and raped day after day. And he won't be able to fly ever again. They will chain him to the deck again like a dog while they-  
Eros was brought out of his hysteria as his fingers grazed against something in the wall. He couldn’t see past the black which had filled the corners of his eyes and he had to force himself to push his thoughts out of his mind and take a few slow deep breaths.  
Once he had calmed down enough for his vision to return, Eros opened his eyes and brought his gaze to the tiny piece of the wall which was a different texture than the rest.  
“I think I found something,” Eros called into the other room.  
He waited until Iman quickly returned to his side before pointing out the spot in the wall.  
Iman inspected it carefully before bringing the finger to it. For a second nothing happened and Eros’ heart dropped, but then he heard a clicking and and a portion of the wall pushed back slowly, before sliding sideways into the pace behind the rest of the wall.  
The opening revealed a small dark room with a stairwell leading upwards.  
Eros and Iman looked at each other in amazement, neither one had actually thought they would make it this far. They had been working off of fear and adrenaline for the last hour and were expecting to be caught any second.  
But they hadn’t been caught yet, and nothing was going to stop them from making it now that they were so close. They took each other’s hand silently and began the ascent to freedom.


	20. Chapter Twenty

Once they made it up eight flights of dimly-lit concrete stairs, Eros and Iman were met with a windowless double-door. With hands which Eros noticed were shaking slightly, Iman used Devoly’s finger to unlock the doors. Then she took a deep breath and pushed one side open slowly.  
Eros had been lucky in that, minus the last month or so, he had been able to be alive outside during his captivity. Even with all the horrors of rape and torture, he could count on being able to see the stars at night, feel a soft breeze, or watch birds as they flew by. This had helped him stay connected to his beliefs, and look upon his ancestors and the spirits who’s stories taught by his father still ran through his head.  
Iman hadn’t had any of this. Although she never brought up any hint of it, Eros assumed she had experienced her fair amount of rape as well as torture. But alongside this, she had to watch her fellow soldiers, people who were her brothers and sisters, be subjected to the same treatment and then killed. Between the words of Iman and Devoly, Eros knew that Anya had tried to escape, and that Devoly had killed everyone but Iman with the serum he threatened and injected her with.   
Eros assumed to himself that Devoly’s choice to kill everyone was the result of Anya’s near-escape. For some reason, Iman was not killed with everyone else, likely because she had been chosen to be one of Devoly’s special subjects. Iman was forced to live with that reality for the last five years without ever being outside.  
It was dark outside, just the last remnants of a sunset were trailing behind them in the nighttime sky. Despite the remaining light, the sky was brimming with stars which, along with the moon, cast a glistening light over the island. Iman beheld the stars, the slightest disbelief in her gaze as if they were illusions.  
For several seconds, neither spoke. They were rooted in this moment, fear of being caught temporarily forgotten in one of those rare moments where two souls connected without the need for words. Both stood on the soft grass beneath their feet and took in every sight, smell, and sound they could, breathing it in slowly.  
Their tranquility was interrupted as the watch vibrated, startling Iman whose grip on it had slackened as she took in the island around her. Eros snapped out of his thoughts as well and his peace left him as he saw Iman’s face return to the serious look Eros had grown used to seeing.  
Iman viewed the watch. “Someone has sent for Devoly, the building has been cleared out and they are waiting for the clear to start loading the boats”, Iman told Eros. “My guess is that it’s AJ”.  
“Who’s AJ?” Eros questioned, and Iman turned to him before giving her head a slight shake.  
“The woman who had been training you, she’s always by Devoly’s side.”  
Eros couldn’t stop himself, “She has a name?” he asked dumbly. Since he had deemed her “Trainer” in his mind, he hadn’t taken any thought to consider another option.  
“Well no one actually knows her name, we’ve just taken to calling her Alika Jamba, literally “a blind dog” in Malagasy. AJ for short.”  
Eros thought the name fit her quite well, and he almost couldn’t contain a snort now looking back on the hurt expression Trainer, or AJ, had on her face when Devoly had scolded her not long ago. “She is quite like a dog” Eros commented thoughtfully, “blindly following her master”.  
“Not much different from everyone else here” Iman added darkly, “hundreds of workers all too scared to speak up”.  
“Anyways, it’s time to lock this facility down before anyone finds Devoly and makes it out of the building.” Eros returned to the task at hand: escape.  
Iman nodded and looked back to the watch, searching it for a few seconds, tapping on various buttons with the finger. When she got to what Eros assumed was what she was looking for from what she could remember from Anya’s shot at escape, Iman swore fiercely.  
“Shit, what is it?” Eros moved in to get a look as well.  
On the screen in bold black letters which stood out against a vivid red background, were the words: “DUAL-AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED”.  
Iman groaned and brought her left hand to her temple to massage it.  
“Fuck.” Eros swore under his breath.  
“Should we leave anyways?”  
“We won’t be able to make it if they can follow us.” Iman sighed.  
Eros groaned and then asked her “What does the dual-authentication need?”  
Iman thought silently for a few seconds, examining the watch before she responded.  
“Were Devoly not the most arrogant bastard I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting, I would assume it meant someone else with the same type of device would need to confirm the lockdown. But we both know Devoly never considered the possibility of being overpowered.”  
“So? What are you thinking?” Eros asked impatiently.  
Iman looked back at the watch and told him, “I know you aren’t going to like this but I think we need Devoly’s eye.”  
Eros stared at her.  
Seeing as she got no response, Iman explained her reasoning, “There is a little camera on the top of the watch, “ she showed it to Eros, “and although it was a long time ago that Devoly put this place on lockdown, I don’t remember him having to do anything that wasn’t subtle. If he just needed his fingerprint and the device to scan his eye to put everything on lockdown-”  
Iman was interrupted by the sound of alarms blaring from with the facility as well as an alert on the watch.  
“CODE GREY”  
Eros grabbed Iman by the shoulders, “What does that mean?”  
Iman froze, and started when Eros shook her, repeating his question.  
“I’m going back inside.” Iman ignored his question.  
Eros stared at her in astonishment. “Why? We have to go NOW!”  
But Iman just shook her head, “They know something is wrong, they are going to deploy soldiers all over the island within minutes. If we can’t shut this building down, we stand no chance.”  
“But it will take too long! Even if we don’t get caught, soldiers will be out before we can make it out.”  
“I’m going alone, you don’t know the building and you will slow me down.”  
Eros cursed out, realizing what Iman was planning, “You are not going to lock yourself in there! We are both going to escape today!”  
Iman was getting impatient, they were wasting time! “Fine!” She snapped at him, “I won’t commence the lockdown until I am back out” seeing Eros about to fight against the idea of her going alone, she added quickly, “But I AM going alone Vaea, I wasn’t lying about you slowing me down.”  
Iman forced herself to stay still for a few seconds while Eros stared at her, agonizing his mind, trying to come up with an alternative plan.  
He couldn’t.  
“Fine.” He consented and with that, Iman tore herself away, sprinting back the way they had come.  
She paused right before she was out of sight, “Eros, if I’m not back in ten minutes, promise me you will leave without me.” she called out to him and Eros gave her a single nod. And with that, Iman disappeared.  
Eros felt as though a thousand ants were crawling over his body. He was aching to move, with how close they were to escape and anxiety flooded his body the second Iman left him in silence, with nothing to do but be on the lookout for soldiers.  
For the first minute or so, Eros was focused on this task but was distracted when he saw a shooting star from his peripheral vision. He turned his gaze to the stars and admired them with the same curiosity and adoration he had as a child.  
Unable to see the stars while he had been the subject of Devoly, Eros had felt disconnected to his spirit. Watching them now, he was reminded of how he would quietly talk to the other prisoners about the constellations and the stories behind them.  
Eros thought about how he and Iman could escape with the others. If they could somehow hijack one of the boats meant for transporting the experimentations, they could bring it to the prisoners and rescue them. But there were likely hundreds of soldiers alongside the doctors and workers who could easily kill them. And Eros had no clue where the boats were.  
He closed his eyes and tried to pick up the sound of engines which could indicate where the boats were but was met with nothing but the “CODE GREY” alarm going off in the facility as well as the sounds of nightlife. Insects chirping, birds saying goodnight to one another in the distance, waves lapping at the shore gently, trees whispering as their leaves danced in the breeze… and footsteps.  
Eros jolted, snapping towards the sound but was met with what felt like a hammer to his eye as his attacker missed his neck due to his turning. Eros’s right eye throbbed in agony immediately and he couldn’t open it as he fell backwards, unable to keep his balance. Tears blurred his left eye and he could make out the figure who he assumed could only be Trainer, or AJ.  
Eros might have not been able to see her, but he could sense her fury.  
“Where is he?!” She seethed at Eros, lifting him up to her face by his collar.  
Eros could only guess she meant Devoly and was reminded of how well the name “Blind dog” fit her. Instead of responding, Eros spat in her face and brought his right leg up between them, kicking her in the chest hard enough that her grip was torn from him.  
Eros jumped back to his feet and ran, only making it a couple of meters before AJ grabbed him by his neck and tore him backwards. Eros tried to throw a punch right into AJ’s face but she blocked it with alarming ease before returning her own punch into Eros’ jaw.  
The force of the punch sent Eros onto the ground and AJ used this to her advantage, stomping down harshly onto his chest so he couldn’t move.  
Eros tried to use his hands to push her leg off but his strength was no match for hers. He blinked rapidly in his left eye, the right one was still burning, and he could have sworn he could feel it already swelling up.  
“Where is he?” AJ repeated, growling. Eros looked up at her, the slightest genuine confusion on his face. Obviously she was talking about Devoly, but why had she come here to search for him rather than returning to the training room where she had seen him not too long ago?  
“How did you know to find me here?” Eros countered, mustering his courage to throw back his words at the figure who had controlled and scared him while he was here.  
He was surprised when AJ actually responded to his question, “His location was tracked to here only a few minutes ago, why isn’t he here?”   
Eros could see now that she wasn’t angry, she was scared. Terrified actually. What else would cause her to risk harming his face if not fear for the safety of Devoly. Ironically, this fear for Devoly’s safety which led her to harming Eros would cause her death by Devoly. Were he conscious, that is.  
But if he was unconscious in the training room, how was he tracked to this location, especially when Eros knew there were cameras everywhere in the facility which should have led AJ back to him?  
Then it hit him. The Watch!  
The watch must have a tracking device in it, and AJ had luckily ‘found Devoly’s location’ when Iman had been up here. They must have barely missed each other in passing. Hopefully Iman wouldn’t encounter others on her mission, although Eros knew she could handle them if she did.  
But Iman had no idea that Devoly was exactly where she had left him, minus his finger, and soon, an eye. Eros could use that to his advantage.  
“He went on ahead.” Eros croaked, at AJ. “He told me he was ready to leave”.   
Had AJ been thinking clearly, she would have noticed that first of all, Devoly would never let Eros outside, conscious and unsupervised, or that Eros didn’t have his collar on him anymore. But she was too fearful to notice these things at first, she glanced to the low hills on the right side of the emergency exit she had come from and that was all that Eros needed.  
He thrust his right leg up enough to latch his foot onto AJ’s hip before swinging his left leg around her body with enough momentum that Eros managed to flip himself on top of her while she was thrown onto her back. He knew that he couldn't have done it unless she was distracted, but now her focus was back on him and Eros knew he had to escape her grasp.  
He delivered a kick to her face which he hoped would temporarily incapacitate her long enough for Eros to take flight but AJ didn’t even flinch. She grabbed Eros by the ankle and returned to her feet, tipping Eros over. As Eros’ face met the ground, his bad eye took the majority of his weight and he hissed, flipping himself onto his back to relieve the pressure.  
“Liar!” AJ slapped Eros who responded with an innocent shrug.  
“I could have sworn he was the one who took me up here” Eros pretended to consider pensively, “guess I could have mistook someone else for him.”  
Eros was surprised when rather than hitting or screaming at him again, AJ brought her hands to Eros’ neck and wrapped her fingers tightly around his throat. He immediately tried the same trick as earlier to flip them around but AJ was not moving this time. She glared down darkly at Eros who sputtered and tried to peel her hands away from him.  
The pressure in his neck had effectively cut off all oxygen to his brain which felt as though it was swelling up. Pressure built behind Eros’ eyes and his head pounded just like his heart which had begun to beat unevenly in an attempt to get oxygenated blood back into his brain.  
His grasp, already no match against AJ’s, was weakening further and Eros tried to get himself to move them towards AJ’s eyes. Between his faulty vision and suffocating brain, Eros couldn’t get his hands to coordinate the movement, and they fell weakly against his sides just as soon as he brought them up.  
His vision began to darken, at first he assumed it was due to his eyes swelling up, but then he realized he was dying. Despair filled every part of his body. Now he couldn’t save anyone. His body would be stuck on this island forever, underneath a sky which he didn’t belong to. He would never know what it was like to fly outside on his own free will. He was still a slave.  
Eros closed his eyes as his fear made way for an overwhelming calm. He could feel tears pushing against his eyelids, either from suffocation, or anguish, he couldn’t tell and didn't care at this point.  
He could faintly hear someone screaming at him. It must have been AJ... or Devoly... or Nathan… But he didn’t care, he was too tired.  
So he let himself fall into the welcoming embrace of sleep.

Or he would have if he hadn’t been pulled out of falling asleep as all of his senses returned to him suddenly. His eyes shot open as his body gasped air in greedily and the sound of muffled grunting filled his ears, although he was too delirious to bring his full attention to it. He lay on his back unmoving while his body rushed the sweet, cool, nighttime air to his brain.  
As the air returned, Eros became more aware of his surroundings and his memories returned. He tried to lift up his head to see what happened to AJ but he was still too weak.  
He continued to lie there when the sound of Iman yelling at him hit his ears. Eros forced himself to lift his rubbery limbs and tilt his head up enough to see where Iman and AJ were fighting. His eyes couldn’t process the multitude of punches and kicks which were thrown, and blocked or recieved, but he knew Iman couldn’t keep up with AJ for long.  
Eros drew in all the willpower he could muster and pushed himself up to his hands and knees, crawling like a drunk worm towards Iman. Once his strength returned further, he pushed himself to his feet and staggered towards where Iman had been thrown to the ground. Eros met her eyes and she looked pointedly at the ground several feet away from Eros before AJ interrupted by grabbing Iman and throwing her several meters.  
Eros followed where Iman’s gaze had fallen and saw Devoly’s watch, He rushed to it, tumbling over his feet and falling, barely close enough to grasp the device. That’s when Iman shouted and Eros looked up again, seeing her point at AJ’s neck while getting punched by her. On her previously bare neck, Eros saw a collar just like his and Iman’s and he knew what to do.  
Eros looked back down at the ground and brought his hands across the grass, searching for Devoly’s finger in the dark. His motions became more desperate as he heard Iman choke but he didn’t dare look in her direction.  
When his fingers touched something different than grass, Eros lifted it up in triumph only to find a slimey circular object which he determined quickly was an eyeball. He held the eye carefully and continued his search, listening to the sounds of Iman choking weakly. Several seconds later his hand found another object which was the finger this time.  
Eros used it and tapped the device. He wasn’t familiar with what the symbols meant like Iman seemed to be but he tapped one which he guessed was the one he was looking for.   
Eros glanced up, only to find that AJ was still choking Iman. He tried another option and this time, AJ shrieked, falling to the side of Iman, clutching at her neck, which Eros knew from experience would only prolong the shock.  
Eros ran to Iman who was gasping, but luckily able to recover much faster than Eros. He dragged her away from AJ’s writhing form, putting a safe amount of space between them before he dropped her to the ground, gasping himself. Iman was the first to speak, she got Eros to hand her the watch, eyeball, and finger.  
In seconds she had the screen up which they had before. This time, with the help of Eros, she was able to use both the finger and the eyeball and they heard a new alarm going off to replace the “CODE GREY”. “SYSTEM LOCKDOWN IN 5…  
4…  
3…  
2…  
1”  
Eros and Iman looked at each other in amazement.  
“We did it,” Eros gaped. “We really did it.”  
Iman’s own excitement which mirrored Eros’ temporarily was replaced quickly with seriousness.  
“It’s time to go. I don’t know how many people made it out of the building but they shouldn’t be able to find us if we leave now.”  
Eros then remembered his fight with AJ and the idea he had come up with. “Wait, Iman.”  
Iman was itching to leave but she waited long enough for Eros to explain his thoughts.  
“There's no way that Devoly would be willing to travel by boat to get to his next destination which means he likely had a helicopter or jet waiting for him. And I think I got AJ to reveal where it is.”  
Iman groaned, “Eros-”  
“We need to at least try to save the others,” Eros pleaded with her.  
Iman looked into his eyes and finally looked away with a sigh, “Fine, but promise me the second anything bad happens, we will leave.”  
Eros grinned, “Yes!”  
“Promise me Eros” Iman repeated seriously.  
“I promise.”  
Iman studied his face for a few seconds before nodding, then added, “I grabbed some of the sedatives as well as the other collar when I went back inside”, she walked to where she had dropped them by the entrance and handed Eros a syringe. “I also grabbed some scalpels. Just in case.”  
He nodded his thanks and began to lead Iman.  
They left Aj squirming into unconsciousness as they made their way carefully up the small hill which AJ had looked towards. The night time gave them much needed cover, but they still didn’t want to be caught by anyone who had made it outside the facility before the lockdown. The moon and starlight which had been pleasant to gaze at, was now a huge disadvantage for being caught.  
Over the hill they could see a distant shoreline with several medium-sized ships floating on it, along with a couple dozen personnel who were running in different directions while individuals shouted orders.  
But more importantly, they could see a helicopter, just like the one which Eros had been transported here with. Unfortunately, said helicopter was on the beach with the boats.  
“Eros…”  
“No wait, I know we can make it,” Eros told her desperately while she shook her head. “Everyone is so focused on finding out what happened, and our suits blend in with the night!”  
Before waiting for a response, Eros took off running low towards the helicopter.  
“Eros wait!” Iman hissed after him. When he didn’t turn back, Iman cursed and began to follow him.  
They crossed the grassy hills and made it to the beach in minutes. The personnel which had looked tiny in the distance were now much larger only a hundred meters away, the helicopter only fifty.  
Eros examined the helicopter, trying to determine whether or not he would be able to fly it but Iman noticed something else. “There is someone in there already.”  
Indeed, the pilot was sitting, anxiously watching the other personnel performing their own tasks.  
“Do you have anything we could use to cause a distraction?” Eros asked Iman who glanced down at her hands which held two syringes, a watch, a severed finger, and an eyeball.  
“Not unless you can think of anything to do with these” she offered him.  
Eros looked incredulously at the items before shaking his head. “Well we’re gonna have to wing it then.”  
Iman snorted. “We are about to run into a beach filled with people who want to kill us and hijack a helicopter that we might not be able to fly, that already has a pilot who probably wants to kill us as well, all because you don’t want to fly with your wings, and you seriously just said that our plan is to ‘wing it’.  
Eros snickered and Iman rolled her eyes then declared “Alright fuck it. Let’s escape right in front of these motherfuckers”.


	21. Chapter Twenty One- End

Eros and Iman moved stealthily towards the aircraft, eyes darting around them to ensure that the soldiers running around hadn’t spotted them. When they had cleared half the distance, Iman dropped to her front and began an army crawl, keeping her body low to the ground and Eros followed suit.  
His long hair kept catching in the sand, blocking his view of the surroundings and Eros wished that Devoly had shaved his head like he had done with Iman and everyone else. He had gotten used to it but was looking forward to being able to bring back his old military-style buzz.  
Ten meters away from the helicopter, Iman motioned Eros to one side of the craft while she took the other. Eros carefully raised himself from his hands and knees until he could see inside, it didn’t appear to be the same kind which had brought Eros from the camp to the facility but he hoped he could still manage to get the thing into the air.  
Under the belly of the aircraft Iman gestured to Eros and made a knocking gesture with her hand before pointing to his side of the helicopter. Eros nodded in understanding and took a deep breath before bringing his hand to the door which was on the side opposite of where the pilot was still waiting for orders. He rapped his knuckles gently on the glass and watched as the pilot was startled out of his seat, before moving to the door. He opened it slowly, peering at Eros as Iman slipped in through the doors across from Eros. The pilot’s eyes lit up in recognition of Eros, but Iman already had pulled the blade of one of her stolen scalpels to the man’s throat, daring him to make a sound.  
Recognition turned to apprehension, the pilot lifted his hand up in a gesture of surrender and Iman wordlessly used the hand not holding the scalpel to search the man for any weapons as Eros climbed inside and searched the cockpit. Deeming him weapon-free, Iman pushed the hijacked pilot into a passenger seat and waited for Eros.  
“Once we get into the air, we can push him out the doors” Iman told Eros who glanced back at her while the pilot flinched. Eros hadn’t ever seen a pilot with fewer guts than this one and had no sympathy for him.  
“Fine, but one problem” Eros replied to Iman gesturing to the controls. “I’ve got no clue how to fly this.”  
Iman sighed, “Then it’s time for us to get out of here Eros.” She told him and moved the scalpel back to the pilot, prepared to slit his throat.  
“Just wait a second!” Eros exclaimed. “We just need him to get it up and then we can throw him out!”  
Iman considered it for a few seconds and nodded, pushing the man to his feet and back into the pilot’s seat.  
“Get us into the air” She ordered him, “Make any sudden movements or any attempt to warn anyone and you will be thrown out of here with a scalpel in your throat.”  
Eros cringed against the thought, his lack of sympathy did not extend to threatening pitiful people with death, but he kept it to himself. The pilot took a few shaky breaths and quivered his hands to the control panel. Eros watched each step carefully so he would know how to pilot the helicopter himself. A few seconds later, the engine came to life and Eros could hear the blades above them whirring, increasing speed until the pilot was able to pull them gently off the grassy beach and into the air. Eros asked the pilot a few questions about operating the vehicle before Iman opened a door and lifted the man out of the seat which Eros was quick to replace. The man tried to struggle against Iman but his strength was no match and Iman tossed him out the door unceremoniously without a word.  
Iman and Eros caught the sound of commotion below as people saw a man falling out of the helicopter, not far enough to kill him, but enough to ensure he would be temporarily out of commission. Iman slammed the door shut and moved to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, glancing at Eros with a smirk.  
“I can’t believe it, this is actually going to work.”  
Eros offered her his own smile but his thoughts had begun to consider the fate of the men he had left behind. He was distracted from his thoughts when Iman began asking him questions about the camp in order to begin shaping a plan. He did his best to answer them and provide his own input of ideas while he gently guided the helicopter in the direction which he had made an informed guess on where the camp was.  
After fifteen minutes or so of flying and planning, they had formed a basic plan. They would have spent more time filling it in to account for uncertainties but Eros suddenly recognized the land they were flying over and brought the helicopter down to the ground.  
Once it was landed, the two exited and took off into the air, flying with their wings this time. After crossing several low hills which Eros had become familiar with as he had spent time watching birds among their trees, they came upon the hut on the water.  
Eros’ breath faltered as all the pain and suffering he had been forced to endear in this place came rushing back to him. His body ached as he remembered every task which had turned him into the guards’ sex slave. Eros’ body jolted downward for a second as his wings had constricted in a subconscious attempt to protect himself.  
He extended his wings and righted himself quickly, returning to Iman’s side.  
“Eros” She called over the air flying past them.  
Eros looked to her and expected her to say more but she just extended her right hand towards him. Eros looked at it and then took it with his left hand. Iman gave him a gentle squeeze but didn’t speak.  
It helped remind Eros that there were more than horrors to remember at the camp. He hadn’t come back here for himself, he had come back to save others from losing themselves and becoming creatures like he had become. Eros squeezed Iman’s hand and gave her a smile before they let go of eachother and split directions, the camp almost right underneath them.  
Eros let his wings stay extended, gliding down towards the deck as Iman did the same on the opposite side.  
Eros hit the deck and tucked his wings in for a roll, jumping back up to his feet just in time to watch Iman cut open the throat of an unsuspecting Ian who had been on outside watch. It had been nearly silent but the SEALs had woken up nonetheless. Luckily they had the sense to be silent as Eros walked passed the shadowy forms in the large cage, too scared to look for specific faces; he could already tell there were a lot fewer men.  
Eros and Iman stalked wordlessly into the hut, and past the kitchen to the backroom door. With a signal, Iman pushed the door open and entered, ready to kill whoever was inside.  
“Let me explain!”  
Eros saw Iman pause with her scalpel to the other guard’s throat. When he entered behind Iman into the small room, Eros saw that it was Andres who had been sitting on watch. On the screen, Eros saw the black and white footage from cameras all over the island, as well as a warning message from the facility, informing all personnel that they were on lockdown.  
Eros swore under his breath before turning back to Iman, quick, kill him before the others get here, we need to move fast if we are going to stand any chance!”  
Iman listened but Andres was too fast, he swung his elbow into Iman’s arm, barely avoiding the blade from slicing his throat. Eros grabbed at one of his syringes and jumped forward to press it into the back of Andres’ head.  
“Eros, no one is coming!” Andres shouted before Eros made it. Iman delivered a sharp punch to Andres’ nose, breaking it with a loud crunch of bone. He clasped his nose in his hands with a groan but began speaking quickly, in his usual calm and quiet voice that was just a bit more nasally than normal.  
“No one is coming, I haven’t alerted the other guards or anyone else. No one knows you are here and I promise it will remain that way if I can help it.”  
It was more than Eros had ever heard him say and he thought over the words carefully. Eros confirmed they were true by looking at the screen again and finding a view of the other guards, sleeping in their rooms, completely unaware of what had occurred.  
Iman looked questioningly at Eros as Andres awaited his fate silently. Eros looked into Andres’ face and saw that he wasn’t afraid of dying. He had always been the most tolerable of all the guards, asking little of him, mostly just to bring him food or sing to him. Now, when Eros finally had control and could decide what to do with him, he didn’t feel the same bloodlust that he had for the others.  
“Leave him” Eros finally told Iman, who looked at him incredulously.  
“Why?” She asked exasperated, “Don’t tell me you pity the man because he didn’t fuck you over one time!”  
“I don’t have pity for him.” Eros told her evenly. “He’s clearly guilty and forcing him to live with that is not as kind as freeing him from it by killing him would be.”  
Andres took his words in stride.  
“Anyways, he might be of use to us.” Eros added.  
“I swear if your kindness is what stops us from escaping, I’ll be the one to kill you myself.” Iman growled at Eros. “At least let’s sedate him for something.”  
Eros nodded in agreement, choosing to ignore her threat which he knew was only from frustration.  
Iman used enough of the serum in one of her syringes to weaken Andres into a half-awake state as Eros moved to the controls, and opened up both doors to the prisoners’ cage outside. With Andres in tow, they exited the backroom and Eros moved for the shelf which had held the keys he had found in his last minutes of being here what felt like years ago.  
There were more keys than prisoners, but Andres sluggishly handed Eros and Iman only the keys which belonged to the shackles outside, not even blinking over the fact that Eros knew where to look.  
“That’s all” Andres’ voice slurred and Eros glared at him.]=\  
“No way, I need more keys than this! There were twelve others last time I was here and you only gave me what?” Eros counted the keys both he and Iman had, “We only have five keys!”  
Andres avoided Eros’ eyes, settling them on the wooden door frame behind Eros.  
“That’s all you need.” Andres murmured and Eros felt his heart drop.  
He was frozen to the spot as dread filled his limbs with lead, making any thought of moving impossible. Seven deaths in just the time he had been gone. Seven people who he had been unable to stop from being killed.   
And Eros knew without being told that Daniel was not one of the five survivors.  
Shock rooted him into an unconscious state in which time seemed to slow down as Eros could do nothing to change the past. He would have stayed like that until the sun came out but Iman jolted him back into the present  
“Eros, we can still save the five.” She prompted with a gentle shake of his shoulder. “Come on, we can do this.”  
Eros forced himself to lift his foot and place it in front of himself. One step. Repeat the movement. Another step. Just a few more. Almost there. Finally, Eros found himself outside the awful cage where several emaciated figures huddled together weakly, peering out from behind bars, no blindfolds over their head, but hands and ankles still cuffed.  
“You came back.” A voice scratched the air weakly and Eros turned towards its owner, meeting the gaze of Devin.  
Eros gulped and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.  
Iman had to pull Eros into the first part of the cage and then into the second, giving him no time to brace himself for what he would see.  
Or who he wouldn’t see.  
Just as Andres had told them, there were only five sailors left: Devin, Thabo, Lenny, Yaya, and Montoya. All of them were completely naked, and significantly smaller. The right side of Devin’s face was burned so bad his skin looked like a charred mudslide, he couldn’t see out of his right eye, and his lips had been partially fused together from the skin melting which made it challenging to open his mouth.  
Iman helped Eros’ fumbling hands to unshackle Devin who stared at the two of them silently, other than a sigh of relief once he was free of them. Devin touched the skin which had been encased in the metal for months, and had formed scar tissue which was still sensitive.  
“Thank you.” Devin breathed before trying to get to his feet and failing due to weak muscles. Eros just nodded absent-mindedly before turning to Thabo.  
Once everyone had their shackles off, Iman briefed the men on who she was, where she and Eros had been, and what they planned on doing now. Eros just stood numbly, not even noticing the way the men he had held so much admiration for were staring at him in unabashed astonishment which morphed into respect.  
“So I think I understand everything,” Devin told Iman quietly as they got their arms around Lenny who was unconscious and had two broken legs, “Everything except, you know, the whole wings thing.”  
Eros left Iman to explain, he was supporting Yaya while Thabo helped support Montoya as they walked the deck which extended in front of the shack. Yaya would have been way too hard for Eros to support only months before, but now his body was light and Eros had to move carefully for fear of tearing his skin which felt paper thin and had become dull and ashy, no longer clear and dark.  
“He died the night you left.” Yaya muttered to Eros who stared at him in surprise.  
“Who?”  
“Torrez. Daniel.”  
“How did you know I was thinking about him?” Eros asked curiously.  
“We could all tell you latched onto him.”  
Eros considered that for several moments before wondering, “Does he have family?”  
“Yes.” Yaya told him. “A wife and two little boys.”  
Eros stopped walking, “You mean he wasn’t…” he trailed off.  
“Single?”  
“Gay.”  
Yaya had to stop himself from laughing, seeing the distraught look on Eros’ face. “No man. He loved women, he was crazy about his wife.”  
“But I thought…”   
“I don’t know, he was pretty out of it. I don’t know his wife that well but I guess you sort of look like her. Long blonde hair, purple-blue eyes.”  
Iman and Devin had put Lenny down so Iman could go to Eros’ side. “What’s wrong?” She asked him, worried he had spotted something.  
Eros just stared at her numbly.  
“Hey I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were, you know… Gay.” Yaya told Eros.  
Iman gave Yaya a funny look before turning to Eros in confusion.  
Out of nowhere, Eros felt laughter bubble out of him, first he was just chuckling, until his hysteria rose and he broke into full out bell-bending laughter. He couldn’t believe he had thought that some random military personnel had actually liked him. What were the odds that Eros so happened to look like his wife?  
Everyone stared at Eros warily but Iman stepped forward and brought her arms around him in a tight hug. “It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay.” She whispered repeatedly.  
Eros latched onto her words and slowly came back to reality, tears were pooling down his face and he realized that he was sobbing, not laughing.  
After a minute or so of awkwardly standing around and trying to avoid looking at Eros, Devin guided the others and they slowly made their way down the deck.  
Eros was able to gain control of himself as he tried to come to terms with his reality. He had barely known Daniel but had attached the idea that they loved each other in both of their unhealthy states. Daniel had been nothing more than an idea of freedom. Of something to strive for. He was dead, as well as six others. Or nine others, as three had already died before Eros had left.  
But at least Eros had gotten out the five others.  
It’s going to be okay. Everything is going to be okay. Eros repeated Iman’s words to himself as he blinked his eyes open and straightened up. Iman was looking at him with concern but Eros spoke before she could.  
“I'll go fetch the helicopter.” He sniffled, rubbing the tears from his face.  
Iman nodded apprehensively, “Be safe.” She called after him as Eros took flight.  
He flew above the heads of the surprised men who stared disbelievingly up at him back towards where he and Iman had landed the helicopter to ensure the guards hadn’t heard it coming in.  
By the time Eros got to the helicopter and flew it back to the others, they had managed to get safely to the end of the deck. Eros brought the helicopter down carefully on the sand and Iman moved with Devin to get the other four inside the helicopter. Once everyone had settled down, Eros took them into the air and directed the aircraft in the rough direction of Madagascar.  
Everyone but Iman, Eros, and Devin had fallen asleep almost immediately after takeoff while the three huddled in the cockpit, waiting breathlessly for the island they had all come to view as hell on earth to disappear from sight.  
After several tense minutes, the island was gone and Eros flung himself into Iman’s waiting arms as Eros cried, this time tears of joy. Although Iman didn’t join in the crying, she looked teary-eyed, as did Devin who had taken Eros’ job.  
Once he and Iman broke their embrace, Eros turned to relieve Devin but with the adrenaline leaving his body, he was dizzy and almost fell over.  
“Hold up there.” Devin told Eros as he fell into Iman’s arms again.  
“Get some rest.” Devin ordered him, ignoring Eros’ protests as he regained his balance. “You will be no use to us if you fall asleep and crash us.”  
“Come on Eros.” Iman chidded, guiding him to where she had been sitting. “You’ve been awake for almost twenty-four hours.”  
Eros relented and collapsed into the seat, finally allowing his exhaustion to pool into him. He briefly explained to Devin how to control the helicopter and warned him to wake him up if anything at all went wrong.   
Devin asked Iman to explain how she and Eros had escaped and Eros’ eyes closed gently as he fell asleep to the sound of Iman and Devin speaking quietly while the helicopter flew them away, towards civilization. Towards safety and comfort.  
Towards Freedom.

Thank you everyone so much for all the interest and support you gave me while I wrote this story! I was not planning on writing a sequel to this story but I am open to ideas :) I would really appreciate it if you enjoyed this story to follow me and join me on the next journey of a story I am currently in the process of planning. xox


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